CHERUB::::::AFTERWARDS
by sophie9308
Summary: James and Lauren Adams - two highly sucessful CHERUB agents. But what happens when they're all grown up? Would their kids ever become CHERUB agents? And why have Lauren's children never met their uncle? YOU REVIEW, I'LL UPDATE. happy reading! :D
1. Chapter 1

CHERUB:::AFTERWARDS

Megan Fisher was happy with her life at the moment. She and her two brothers, Max and Jamie, had just started Faringdon School, the local high school in town, and none of them had yet been beaten up, mugged or got seriously drunk. Their mother, Lauren, seemed pretty happy with them as well. She'd always done her best for the kids – from birth the triplets had spoken Spanish and English fluently, and they all had a good level of French as well.

Their father, Carlos, had been half-Spanish and Lauren had insisted that they spoke as many languages as possible. They'd done all the activities Lauren could think of – go-karting, rock-climbing, water skiing, outdoor survival, camping, hiking, scuba diving and mountain biking, among many others. They were all black belts in karate – despite Megan's protests, her mother had kept them at it. All kids were extremely fit and well educated. When their father had died when they were two, Lauren had flung her efforts into providing for her children.

Megan had recently achieved top marks in the region on the 11+ exams to the local grammar school, but Lauren had been insistent that her children should go to the local state school, and learn the 'real values of life' as she put it. Lauren had always been incredibly careful that if anything should happen to her, her three children would be well capable to look after themselves.

Megan met up with her best friend Sash as she walked to school. She lived three kilometres away, but Lauren always made the kids walk to school. She normally went with Max and Jamie, but Jamie had a doctor's appointment so he had the morning off school and Max had already gone off with his friends. They talked and chatted as they walked to school, but Sash met her boyfriend Jed outside the gates and the two girls split up.

Megan saw Jed's best friend Charlie at the door to the school. Charlie was small for his age, but he was still much taller than Megan. He was quite a good-looking boy, with dark hair that accentuated his even darker eyes and made them glint invitingly. They'd all met two weeks ago, when they started at Faringdon. Megan and Sash were already friends, of course, and Jed had taken a liking to Sash's well-developed body and asked her out in the first week of term.

Since then, both Megan and Charlie had felt pushed aside by the two 'lovebirds', and they'd become good friends. Megan definitely wasn't the most developed girl in the year, but she was very pretty with strawberry-blonde hair that curled at the edges and sparkling blue eyes. Megan had always liked Charlie, and she was pretty sure that Charlie had some interest in her as well.

Lunch was the usual drab plasticy-meat with some gooey lumps that resembled vegetables. Megan skipped all of it and wolfed down her go-ahead bar and energy drink instead. After lunch, her class was just settling down to a geography lesson when the headmaster walked in.

"Megan Fisher," he spoke in his deep voice. "My office, please. Now." All the kids made 'oooing' noises as she collected her bag and walked outside. As they'd only been here two weeks, not many kids had been sent to see the headmaster yet, so this was quite a big deal. Megan felt nervous, but she knew it couldn't be bad because she couldn't possibly have done anything wrong. Her heart leapt when she saw Max sitting sullenly in a chair outside the headmaster's office. Now this was something serious.

"Sit down, please," said Headmaster Cromwell, motioning them into his office. He looked stern, but as he sat down opposite them his expression softened and he looked at them, concerned.

"Megan, Max," he said slowly. "There was an accident, this morning. A car crash." Megan inhaled sharply. She felt Max switch on suddenly beside her.  
"I'm really, really sorry," he said slowly. "But your mother was … she was killed instantly. Your brother was taken to hospital in critical condition. I'm sorry to say he passed away before arrival." He broke off into silence, staring at the two small children in front of him and wondering how on earth he'd just managed to tell them that their mother and brother had just died.

Megan didn't say anything. She didn't think she could. She just sat there, feeling frozen in her chair. She heard Max sniffling quietly beside her. She saw the tears streaking of his young, delicate face as he began to rock, back and forth, holding his skinny legs together with his muscular arms, burying his head between his knees as if to hide from the world and never come back again. Still, she didn't move. She didn't think that she would ever feel again. She couldn't let it in – Jamie and Mami, dead. Dead. The word rang in Megan's ears though no one had said it. She realised she was yelling it; sobbing so loudly her ears would burst. Her heart was thumping so loudly that surely that would burst too. And then it did, and everything was black.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

When Megan woke up, she was in a large, clean room, with sunlight streaming in through the windows. She rolled over underneath the rustling duvet and saw with relief that Max was there. Though he was still sleeping soundly, she slipped her hand in his and held it tight, for comfort. She felt as if she had been dreaming for a very, very long time – dreaming of nothingness. But then…. She struggled to remember. No. It couldn't be true. That Mami and Jamie had died? That's what she seemed to remember. The awful realisation came crashing down on her and she remembered fully the scene in headmaster Cromwell's office the day before. She sank onto the comfortable pillows behind her. A small tear dribbled down her face. She wanted Max to wake up, to talk to him properly. As she thought it, he stirred a little, and then awoke with a little jolt.

"M..Megs?" He asked, astounded. She reached over and hugged him. She realised that all she had on was a skimpy vest from the day before and some baggy cotton underpants.

'Buenos dias, mi hermana menor," he whispered quietly, as he used to tease her at home. It was a Spanish phrase – 'my little sister' was what he called her. Megan was the youngest out of the three. Jamie was the oldest; always the leader, the strongest. Max with the middle child; never quite as strong or as brilliant as Jamie. But Max was always much closer to Megan than Jamie was – he was the friendlier child. And then there was Megan. Sweet, pretty little Megan.

The door opened, and Megan and Max sat up, their hands still clasped tightly. A woman walked in. She was black, and Megan thought that she recognised her from somewhere. Very tall and muscular, she had a pleasant, fruity-like scent about her and she smiled warmly at them.

"Good morning, Megan, Max," she said, and sat down on the end of the large bed. Then, she started speaking in Spanish.

"Okay. I know you're feeling confused right now, and upset, but I just need you to listen for a while, okay?" They both nodded. Max murmured 'Si' under his breath. Then, to their amazement, the woman switched to French.

"Now, there's some clean clothes in the drawers, and there's some nice showers and baths through there so you can freshen up a bit if you wish. Do you understand?" They both nodded. She smiled brightly at them, before switching back to English.  
"I'm Meryl Spencer, by the way. I'm going to be your handler.'

As Meryl left, Megan jumped into the shower. She felt she need to scrub away the dirt and the dust of the previous day, the faint smell of smoke that always lingered on her school clothes from the subway on her walk to and from school. She wanted to wash away any memory of the day before. Max, on the other hand, didn't feel the same obsessive need. Once Megan was out of the shower, they discovered two sets of no-brand underwear, cotton vests, blue t-shirts with a weird symbol on the shirtsleeve and the word cherub splashed in giant white letters across the chest, with a picture of a winged baby, sitting on a globe. There were also two sets of green army trousers and two sets of black polished boots that smelled like fresh rubber. They were all the same size so Max and Megan each put on a set of clothes and, when they were ready, they peered out into the corridor outside the room. There was a note pinned to the door of their room.

Megan, Max

Have some breakfast and I'll talk to you there

The dining rooms on the ground floor

Straight ahead from the lift

Meryl x

Megan and Max found the dining room relatively easily. It was full of kids, chattering noisily over their breakfasts. A plasma screen on the wall of the large, airy room showed the latest news bulletins. Megan noticed that the kids were all wearing varying colours of cherub shirts – red, pale blue like hers and Max's, grey, navy, black and white. Megan was itching to know more about this place – the kids, the 'staff', the coloured, strange uniforms and most of all, where she and Max belonged in it all. Megan wasn't very hungry, so she just got some scrambled eggs and a hot chocolate and went and sat at an empty table. Max, on the other hand, was starving, and loaded his plate with bacon, eggs, sausages, baked beans and fried bread, topped with hot chocolate and orange juice, before coming over to join Megan. They sat quietly, not saying much. Megan's hair dried quickly and began to curl around her cheeks. Max longed to lean over and brush her hair out of her eyes, how he so often did normally, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do it. It reminded him too much of how Lauren would ruffle their hair and drop a kiss on each of their cheeks before heading out to school every morning.

They noticed Meryl coming over to them. She sat down next to Megan and looked at them both, concerned.

"I hope you're not too confused," she said, taking a sip of her expresso.

"I know I promised I'd explain some things, but there's only so much I can explain. You're both going to see Zara, the chairwoman, after breakfast, and she'll tell you everything that I can't. But firstly, I wanted to check that you're both holding up ok." She looked at them.

"Okayish, I guess," said Megan. Well, as well as you could be having found out that her mother and brother had just died. Max didn't say anything. Megan wondering how he was feeling. He had always been somewhat overshadowed and pushed out a little by Jamie; Megan wondered whether he was feeling guilty for what happened.

"Well, we've scheduled some sessions with a councillor as soon as possible," said Meryl. Megan pushed her plate away, half the eggs still left there. Meryl gave it a quick glance before carrying on.

"Anyway. I'm so sorry about what happened to your brother and mother. But I can tell you, you're not alone in this room. Everyone here has no parents either." Max looked at Megan in shock. He just couldn't take any of it in.

"But, that's really as much as I can tell you. Come on. If you've finished, I'll take you through to see Zara."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Megan and Max followed Meryl into a smart, modern office. It had curved chairs and a sleek glass desk, with an apple Mac computer positioned artfully at an angle. A blonde-haired woman sat behind the desk, sipping a coffee. She smiled as she saw the two youngsters, and motioned for them to sit on the comfy sofa to the side of the room. Meryl left and Zara settled herself into an armchair.

"Now. I know you'll have a lot of questions, and I'll try to explain now. This place is called CHERUB. It's basically like a children's home, but with much better facilities. There is a school on campus and we take sports and fitness very seriously here. The reason for all this is because the children at cherub are agents for the British intelligence service." Megan looked at Zara in astonishment.

"You're joking?" She asked incredulously. A small smile played at Zara's lips.

"No, Megan, I'm not. But listen, and it will make more sense why you're here. Now, the main part that I need you to grasp is very important. When your mother Lauren was between the ages of nine and seventeen, she was a CHERUB agent as well. Now when your father died when you were two, your mother wanted to make sure that if anything should happen to her, you three would get the same chance at CHERUB as she did. We can provide a much better education for you and all of our pupils achieve places at the countries' top universities. This is why she's always pushed you to be so active – you're both very physically fit and you speak three languages already. That is very remarkable for ten-year-olds, I have to say.

'When your mother contacted my predecessor, he assured her that if anything should happen to her, you would be given the acceptance tests immediately and he would do his very best to make you a part of CHERUB, although he could offer no guarantee." Megan's face fell.

"But," Zara continued, "He didn't work as closely with Lauren as I did. A couple of years ago, I was going through the files and your names popped up. I decided that if you should ever have the unfortunate circumstances to enter a children's home, that home would be here. There are about fifty staff people that would probably organise a protest if they found out that Lauren Adams' children were taken into care, and not into CHERUB. You already well fulfil the criteria to enter CHERUB … so, if you want to, I would be delighted to offer you places here." Megan's head was reeling.

"But… you mentioned about agent thingies…" she said cautiously.

"Oh yes, I forgot. At the age of ten, every agent goes through a course of basic training. You must pass this course to become a qualified agent – and once you're qualified, you can go on missions. When you qualify, you earn your grey shirt. Navy shirts are for an outstanding performance on a mission. Black shirts are for several outstanding performances on missions. White shirts are unfortunately for retired agents and teachers." Max nodded slowly.

"So… Mami was an agent here?" He asked. Zara smiled and nodded.

"She was an outstanding agent – the youngest black shirt we've ever had to this day. Her brother, your uncle that is, is godfather to my son, Joshua. He was an agent here too, but he left about two years ago now. When your mother told me she'd had triplets – I was so shocked! She wanted to name me godmother to you, Megan, but as I still worked at CHERUB it just wasn't possible." Megan sat there in silence. She didn't know what to think.

"Don't worry," said Zara. "I know it seems like a lot right now, but you'll get used to it. If you want to stay, that is!" Megan and Max both nodded eagerly. They were both certain about that part!

"It's just a shame that I never had all three of you sitting here," Zara sighed. There was a knock at the door, and a small boy appeared. He was wearing a red shirt. He was quite a remarkable looking boy – he had blonde hair, but there was definitely an oriental look about him. He had tanned skin, and a brilliant smile.

"Ah!" said Zara, smiling. "The other part I forgot. Come on in, Oscar. Megan, Max – I'd like you to meet your cousin Oscar." Oscar smiled sheepishly. Megan guessed that he was about the same age as her and Max.

"Hi," he grinned.

"Oscar's dad, your uncle, that is," Zara explained, "works on campus as a mission controller. And your aunt, his mother, works as a handler. So Oscar's an agent as well – he'll be starting basic training in three weeks with you two. Now, I suggest that Oscar takes you on a tour and he can answer any questions you have. Then come back and see me and we'll sort out the boring stuff like names and rooms and things." They nodded and got up to leave. Oscar darted ahead and opened the door for them.

"See you later," Zara called.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Oscar led them out of the main building and Megan and Max gasped in amazement. Before them lay a wide, open lawn. They could see loads of smart, modern buildings dotted around. A dense wood was off to the left, with an athletic's track straight up a head and masses of fields, weird obstacle courses and a large lake in the distance. It all looked new and modern. Megan thought that she would really love it here.

"Come on!" said Oscar. "I'll show you the dojo first." Megan smiled and followed eagerly. It was great to find two more members of family, after losing two the day before. Now Megan thought about it, she felt guilty. She'd been feeling so upset about Mami dying that she'd barely thought about Jamie. Jamie – her protector, her big brother. She felt sort of lost without him.

"By the way, I'll take you to meet my little sisters later. Grace is seven – she lives in the Junior Block with me. Emma is five and Daisy is three so they both still live in the house with Mum and Dad."

"Don't you mind not living with them?" asked Max. Oscar shook his head.

"I can see them whenever, and it's cool living with all my mates. I share a room with my best friend Freddie – he's starting training with us too." They nodded. It was all so confusing.

"There's the height obstacle – don't worry, you'll soon get over that – the athletics track is there, you have to run punishment laps if you're naughty… that's the main classroom block, where we have most of the lessons… the paint-balling range is over the other side of the lake … and that horrible mud bath you can see is the basic training compound."

Oscar led them to a peculiar circular building.

"This is the dojo," said Oscar proudly. "It's the training hall for martial arts. Do you do any already?" They nodded.

"We're all… I mean, we're black belts," said Max, trying to show off.

"Good, 'cos otherwise you'd have loads to catch up on." Max looked slightly taken aback.

"You've already got your black belt as well?" Oscar nodded.

"Of course. Everyone here does martial arts loads. It's essential. Oh – I'm sorry about your mum and your brother, by the way. Zara told me this morning."

"Thanks," said Megan, trying desperately to hold her tears in.

They entered the dojo. There were about ten kids in karate suits, sparring on the springy floor. As soon as they fell down, they would immediately spring straight back up again. Megan watched with interest. She realised that what Zara had said had been entirely true. Mami had been training them; their skills could easily match those of the children on the dojo floor, if not better them.

A wiry-looking man made her way over to them. He looked as though he was about 27 or 28.

"Mr Norris," said Oscar, his voice sounding a little nervous. "This is Megan and Max. They'll be starting basic training with me in a few weeks." Much to their surprise, the stern man broke into a smile and clapped his hands together.

"Fantastic! More Adams'! And twins, as well!" he smiled, his voice not nearly as scary as his appearance. "How lovely." Megan's heart twinged with sadness. People had always been able to tell they were triplets; exactly the same faces, same hair and same eyes as well. She shook her head gently.

"Triplets," Oscar murmured softly. Mr Norris' face creased in a moment of sadness.

"Oh, gosh. I'm very sorry. But you know karate?" Max and Megan nodded.

"Black belts."

"You'll be fine then. Now, off you go!" he clapped his hands and returned to the kids sparring on the map. Oscar grinned.

"He's quite blunt about things," he smiled. "But he's one of Dad's best mates. They were agents together. Most of the staff around campus were cherubs in their day."

By the time they'd finished the tour, Megan and Max felt as though they had walked miles. Oscar had to leave them to go to his next lesson, which left Max and Megan alone for the first time that day. Max, who had been quite all day, finally spoke.

"Megs.. I've been thinking. You know what Miss Takada said? Well, we are twins now, aren't we? I mean, I never ever want to forget Jamie, but people are going to assume we're twins. What do you think?" Megan looked sad, but thoughtful.

"You're right. I mean, I'm going to tell people we were triplets. I'm never going to forget that. But we can't take offence every time someone assumes that. I think we do have to move on. And, I suppose, we are twins now." Max nodded and they continued walking in silence, their boots treading softly over the grass. It would be hard, Megan realised. But they could do it together.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Megan and Max sat before Zara again, tired after their tour around campus, but excited about everything they'd seen.  
"Okay," said Zara. "Now, I've pretty much told you everything that I can. We just need to sort out the paperwork and things. So…. Full names?"

"Megan Annabelle Fisher," said Megan automatically, and at the same time Max said

"Max Carlos Fisher."

"Oh yes," said Zara, "I almost forgot. When you join CHERUB, you have to change your surname. You can keep your first and second names if you wish." Max looked sad.

"But Fisher is our mother's name," he said. Lauren had wanted the children to have an English surname, so Carlos had changed his instead.

"I know," said Zara. "But if it's any consolation, that's not her real surname. She went by Adams at CHERUB – Oscar's surname is Adams. It's a family name - that would make sense if it suits you." Megan and Max looked at each other and nodded.

"Yeah, Adams is good," said Max. "I've always wanted to be top of the register."

"Adams it is, then," said Zara. "Now, Max, your full name – unless either of you want to change your names?" Max thought for a bit.

"Well, I'd quite like to add another second name, if that's alright," he said. "I've always thought that's cool. But I'm not sure which." Zara looked thoughtful.

"I know that Lauren was very fond of her brother, James. Why don't you add that?" Zara suggested.

"Okay. Max Carlos James Adams!" he announced. Megan nodded in approval. Zara looked pleased.

"That's lovely. Megan?"

"I want Mum's name. How about Megan Lauren Annabelle Adams?" she suggested.

"Brilliant. Now, birthdays?"

"5th of November," they said in unison.

"Oooh, Bonfire Night. Fantastic… now room allocations…." Zara fished about and handed them two room keys.

"Opposite each other on the sixth floor, I think," she said. "There are plenty of clothes and things up there as well. Oscar's still living in the junior block, but when he passes basic he'll be on the same floor. Oh, and here are your keys. There are locks, but they won't be much good. Every kid in this place knows how to pick locks. It's damn annoying if you're trying to keep something secret, I can tell you." Megan laughed. There was so much to take in, and her head felt like a blur.

"Alright. Well, here are your room keys. Your belongings are due to arrive this afternoon, I think. Why don't you two head down to lunch? Oscar will meet you there and you can meet a few people. I'll put your timetables under your doors later. Just take it slow, and if you have any questions, me, Meryl, Oscar or anybody will be here to help. Oh, and I'm sorry you couldn't meet your Uncle James yet, but he's away on a mission at the moment. Your aunt, Kerry, is here though. I'll arrange for you to meet her this afternoon."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

As Megan and Max were eating a delicious meal of roast chicken and vegetables, Oscar introduced them to some of his friends.

"This is Rosie, Cara, Maddy, Ella, Freddie, Reuben and Connor," said Oscar, proudly pointing to each one of his friends in turn.

"Hi," said Megan.

"Are you all starting basic training, then?" asked Max.

"No," said Rosie. "Me, Maddy, Cara, Freddie and Reuben are, but Ella and Connor are still to young. You have to be ten," she said.

"So is Oscar your cousin then?" asked Freddie. Megan nodded.

"Oh god, we're getting too many staff kids now!" groaned Cara. Freddie nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. First the chairman's daughter, then handler and mission controller's son, and now their nephew and niece as well!"

"You're Zara's daughter?" asked Max. Rosie nodded.

"Definitely too many," agreed Cara, and they all laughed.

"Oh yeah," said Oscar, suddenly remembering. "I'm supposed to introduce you to Mum. I'll go get her."

"So did you guys arrive today?" asked Reuben. They both nodded.

"You're so lucky! You get to move straight into the main building, and you don't have to live in the junior block!" Megan grinned.

"Why, is the Junior Block not as nice as the main block, then? Ella pulled a face. She was a small girl, with blonde hair that curled into little ringlets at the end.

"As if," she snorted. "Not unless you actually _like_ kiddie furniture andsharing a room with someone who snores all night and leaves all there clothes _everywhere_!" Rosie looked offended.

"Hey!" she retorted. "At least you don't have to share with any boys." Ella nodded.

"I suppose," she sighed. "Although I wouldn't mind sharing a room with Josh O'Reilly. H He is _so _fit!" Rosie, Erin, Cara and Maddy giggled in agreement.

"Who wouldn't!" squealed Maddy. At that moment, Oscar appeared with a woman wearing a white CHEURB t-shirt. She had black hair, which swept down her back. She was Chinese, and very pretty.

"Oh, my god!" she squealed. She rushed to Megan and Max. They stood up hesitantly, and she threw her arms around them and hugged them tightly.

"Oh my god, you look so like your mum!" she said. As she drew away from them, she wiped a tear from her face.

"It's so… I can't say. But you're here, and James and me are here, and Bruce, and loads of people. We're all here for you, okay?" the nodded.

"I'm Kerry. You can call me whatever – Auntie Kerry if you like. I don't mind. I see you've already met Oscar! You're coming to our house tonight, so you'll meet the other kids, Grace, Daisy and Emma, then. I've got to dash, but if you need anything, anything at all, come see me, okay?" Megan and Max nodded.

"Alright then. Bye!" Kerry flew off in a whirl. Megan had already decided that Kerry was very cool.

After lunch, Oscar and Rosie took Megan and Max to their rooms. They hadn't yet seen them, and they were both desperate to see what they were like. They were opposite each other on the sixth floor, and were surrounded by about eight other empty rooms.

"They're reserved for the trainees coming out of training in three months," said Oscar. "Hopefully, we'll all get some next to you." Megan tentatively took out her key and opened the door labelled '607'. Max did the same with '608'. Oscar followed Max into his room.

"Bloody hell!" yelled Max out loud. At home, this would have earned him a sharp word or light cuff around the ear from Lauren, but here there was no one around to tell him off. Apart from Meryl, who was just entering the lift at the end of the corridor.

"I heard that, Mr Adams." Max smiled to himself. He liked his knew name; he was proud to have the same name that his mother went by. So far, whenever he mentioned the name, people seemed very impressed indeed.

Max charged into his new room and immediately jumped on the bed. It was a double, in the centre of the large room, and laid with a soft duck-feather duvet and pillow set in a blue cover with stripes around the edge. Straight across from his bed was a flat screen, plasma TV. A desk below the window held new stationary and a small safe was deadlocked beside it. A brand-new laptop was positioned artfully atop the desk. A dinky 'kitchen unit' in one corner had a sink, two counters - a half-size fridge on top of one, a kettle, a toaster and a microwave. There were two other doors in the room. One led into a small closet, where shelves were laid with neatly pressed CHERUB uniform and a few other items of clothing. None of Max's stuff had arrived yet. The other door led into a gorgeous en-suite, with a Jacuzzi bathtub and a marble shower. Everything was brand new, sleek and modern.

"Wow," breathed Max. Oscar grinned.

"They're cool rooms, aren't they?" he grinned. "I can't wait until I get one!" Max nodded breathlessly and they crossed the hall to see Megan's room. It was almost identical to Max's, but everything faced the other way. Max could see the delight in his sister's eyes as he watched her take in her new room. It was the first time he'd seen her look happy or excited since that awful day yesterday.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

That afternoon, Megan and Max made their way across to the medical centre. Apparently every new cherub had to have loads of injections, and they both needed a medical before they were pronounced fit to take basic training. Max and Megan had had plenty of jabs before so they weren't scared at all. During the tests they sat and waited for each other. At the end, the tubby German doctor smiled.

"I have to say, these are the best pair of medical results I've ever seen from some new recruits. You're a credit to your mother."

He twinkled a smile at them. The twins smiled at him and ran off, hoping to explore more of the CHERUB campus.

They decided to go to the food cupboard, to stock up their little kitchens. Although their mother had been a vegetarian, Megan, Max and Jamie had never taken to it. They piled fizzy drinks, chocolate bars, bread, milk, microwave meals and other suchlike into a few bags and lugged them through the elevator doors and up to their rooms.

They spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking their bags, which had been brought from their house. It was then, faced with all her stuff that didn't really seem to belong at CHERUB, the realisation of what had happened hit Megan.

It was like a wave crashing over her; a wave of misery and sadness. The feeling of lack of hope and desperation was overwhelming. Megan simply collapsed on the floor, rocking silently back and forth, staring into space.

This was how Kerry found her, when she came to collect Megan and Max to have supper at her house.

"Oh Megan," whispered Kerry. She rushed over, sat down on the floor beside the little girl and wrapped her arms around her lovingly. If anything, this made it worse. What Megan missed so desperately was her mother's touch; the way Lauren would greet them warmly after each day at school, and enquire about what they had done that day.

The way that she always knew when something was wrong, even if they tried their hardest not to show it.

But the thing that upset Megan the most was the fact that she could not look at Max without thinking of Jamie. Dear, sweet Jamie, who had always looked out for her and protected her. Somehow Megan felt like a part of her was missing. She knew that none of this was Max's fault, and that he was feeling awful as well, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him properly.

All day, Megan had only briefly thought of Lauren and Jamie; it had seemed not to be real – the shock of it had yet to sink in. And now that it had, Megan felt as though she could never be happy again.

She lay in Kerry's strong arms, sobbing her heart out. She just didn't know how she would ever feel normal again. Not with Mami, or Jamie.

"We're always here for you, Megan," whispered Kerry. "And James is coming home soon. I can't believe what this must be like for all of you. I mean, we were all friends with Lauren but she was the only relative that James had. And now…" she broke off, a delicate tear slowly falling down her cheek.

"Oh, Megan." She sighed, and hugged her tighter. Megan didn't know how long she sat there. All she knew was that Mami and Jamie were dead, and they were never coming back.

For Max, unpacking in his room, his feelings were slightly different. He simply could not comprehend that his mother and brother were dead; to him, it felt like they were in some sort of dream – as if they were on holiday or something.

When he thought about it, and he tried not to because it made him extremely sad, Max couldn't help feeling guilty and unwanted. It was always Jamie that was the best son; always Jamie that won all the competitions, always Jamie that had looked after Megan, and Lauren. Jamie was the protector of the family, the man of the house. Max was always the one on the sidelines.

And now, dreadful although it made him feel, Max couldn't help but wonder whether Megan would have preferred Jamie to live, rather than him. Although Megan and Max had always been much closer than Megan and Jamie, Max felt that in the situation they were in now, Jamie would have been a much more reassuring person to have with his little sister.

Max sighed. He never cried; that was one thing he could establish over Jamie. Jamie was never afraid to show his feelings, whereas Max was quiet, reserved. This had worried Lauren sometimes. And although he didn't know it, it worried Kerry, and Meryl, and Zara, and everybody that felt responsible for him at that moment. Losing a mother and a brother is a massive ordeal for a ten-year-old boy to deal with, especially with no known relatives to support him – apart from James, of course.

So, for once in his life, Max Carlos James Adams let go of his emotions and started to cry.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

That evening, Max and Megan accompanied Kerry over to her little house that she shared with James and their two little girls, Emma and Daisy. It was situated in a little side corner of campus. There were about four other little cottages surrounding it.

"Have you met the karate teacher yet, Mr Norris?" asked Kerry. The twins nodded.

"Well, he lives in the house next door to us with his wife Bethany. Their little boy, Jack, is a few years younger than you." Max nodded. He couldn't think of anything to say. He knew that Kerry was trying to make polite conversation and he was grateful, because it meant he didn't have to try and hide his feelings.

"And this house on the other side of ours is Connor and Gabrielle O'Reilly's," said Kerry. "I expect Oscar's mentioned his son, Josh? Well, he's around the same age as you, although I don't think he's quite old enough to do basic training with you."

"Do most CHERUB agents live on campus then?" asked Megan. Kerry shook her head.

"No. But a lot of the agents that I worked with do. In fact, when I was an agent we sort of had a 'gang'. It was me, James, Bruce, Gabrielle, Callum, Connor, Lauren and her best friend Bethany, although James never really liked her very much, Shakeel, Mo, Rat and a few others. Most of us are married now!" Kerry laughed, obviously reminiscing in her memories.

"Everyone thought Lauren would marry Rat. She was going out with him for about three years on and off. But when he left, he moved back to Australia, and they sort of lost touch." Megan didn't say anything. There was so much she'd never known about her mother. And now it was too late. A small tear dribbled down her cheek. She noticed Max dabbing his eyes as well.

Kerry sighed. She didn't know how she was going to get through the next few weeks. But the most awful part was that she knew whatever she was feeling must be nothing compared to the sorrow of Max, Megan and James. The whole of CHERUB staff were in mourning; Lauren had been deeply loved by everybody.

Kerry hadn't told Max and Megan yet, but it had been decided by James and Zara, the two people that were closest to Lauren, that she should be buried at CHERUB, with a memorial service held at the chapel. Not wanting to separate the twins' brother from his mother, and indeed his siblings, it had also been decided that Jamie would be buried alongside Lauren in the CHERUB grounds.

As they reached the pretty cottage, Kerry opened the door and went in. Two little girls ran up to her and threw their arms around her legs (the highest they could reach). They were extremely pretty; both had tanned skin, dark hair and looked distinctly Chinese. But they also looked very similar in features to Megan; features that she had inherited from her mother, which no doubt James had inherited as well.

Shyly, they both looked at Megan and Max. Kerry bent down to their level. Immediately, Megan loved the way she looked after her children. Not intimidating, not reprimanding, just calm and gentle and loving – exactly how Lauren had been.

"Daisy, Emma, this is Megan and Max. Do you remember when Daddy's sister came to visit? Well she had a little accident, so Megan and Max are going to live here now at CHERUB."

Emma, the older girl, seemed to forget her shyness. She sidled over to Megan and slipped her hand into the older girl's.

"I'll show you my Bratz if you like," she smiled. Megan grinned. She'd always wanted a little sister; someone to dress up and teach things. And now she had three younger cousins. Almost immediately after thinking that, Megan felt guilty with herself, and the sadness she had been feeling moments earlier washed over her again.

Kerry seemed to notice and shook her head firmly.

"No, girls, not now. Come on, let's go through to the other room and we can have some drinks whilst we wait for Grace and Oscar." Megan and Max followed Kerry through to the other room, which turned out to be a spacious living room with a large kitchen through an archway at one end. Max and Megan made their selves comfortable on the sofa, and Daisy scurried over. She clambered onto Megan's lap and sat facing her.

"I like your earrings," she whispered shyly. Megan smiled. Daisy was so cute!

"Thanks," she said. "Max got them for me for my birthday last year." Daisy smiled and cuddled into Megan. Megan suddenly realised that Max hadn't said a word since they'd parted to unpack their backs. She looked at him, concerned, but he simply looked away.

At that moment, the phone rang. Kerry rushed to answer it. She whispered hurriedly as she ran.

"Sorry, guys, won't be a minute, but if I don't pick it up Emma will and she _always _hangs up on people." Kerry rushed out into the hallway. Max could hear her pick up the phone and speak a few words. Then suddenly he felt a burst of emotion – so many feelings, all at one time, that he couldn't, wouldn't control them.

And just like that, he collapsed on the floor.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Max woke up. He felt extremely groggy. For a second, he wondered where Lauren was - she would normally have woken him up for school by now. And then he properly recognised the room as his new bedroom at CHERUB, and his heart sank.

It was real. All along, Max had been hoping that the past two days had been some part of an awful nightmare – but apparently, there was no such luck.

Slowly, the door handle began to turn. Frightened, Max lay back and pretended to have just woken up. A man walked in. He was stocky, with blonde hair and a set jaw. For some reason, he seemed familiar.

And then Max realised. This man looked exactly like a grown-up version of Jamie. He even looked a little like Max, although he had always looked more like his father. This must be his uncle.

"Hello?" whispered the man. He had a faint cockney accent.

"Max," he said. "I'm James – your uncle." Max sat up, and rubbed his eyes to clear the dust.

"Hi," he said nervously. As he got a closer look at James, he realised that the man looked absolutely shattered. His eyes were red and puffy, with deep grey rings circling them. He looked as though he hadn't slept in days – and rightly so. If this man was James, then he had just lost his last living relative from childhood.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to finally meet you," he said softly, gazing at every feature on Max's face.

"Lauren…. Lauren always said she'd name one of her boys Max," said James. Max looked surprised.

"She chose my name first?" he asked. James nodded.

"Oh yeah," he said. "She was thrilled she had two boys, but she said you looked like the little boy she'd always dreamed of having. That's why you're Max. She said she couldn't have bared having a son that looked too much like me called Max." Max smiled. Somehow, this news made him feel like he _was _of equal importance to Jamie.

"So… how come we could never meet you?" asked Max. James sighed.

"Well, I used to visit a lot when you were little," he said.

"Especially when your dad passed away. But as you got older, you all started asking more and more questions about where I lived and what I did. We decided it was safer for all of us if you didn't know. But I've always kept up to date on you guys." Max nodded. This seemed like a reasonable excuse.

James paused. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but couldn't quite find the right words to express what he wanted.

"Now listen, Max," he said slowly. "The reason I'm here is because we're worried about you." Max looked at James and James was taken aback by how steely the little boy's stare was.

"Are you not worried about Megan as well?" he asked in a cold voice. James shook his head.

"No. Megan has a great deal of grief – that's normal. But you…. Max, we know that you often felt overshadowed by Jamie. We're just worried that you're not dealing with you grief in the normal way. After you collapsed last night –" James broke off.

"Well, you can't just bottle up all your feelings like that," he said. "Trust me. I know where you get it from, because Lauren was just the same." James ran his hand through his hair sadly.

"After our mum died," he said slowly, "she had to be sedated, because she was hyperventilating so much she would have passed out. Like you did last night." Max nodded.

"So how do I stop that?" he asked. James looked thoughtful.

"Well, Lauren always channelled her energy into doing something productive that stopped her… well, that stopped her thinking about what had happened too much. I mean, you've got to embrace your feelings to be able to get over them, but don't let them overwhelm you." Max nodded.

"I think I understand," he said. "But what am I supposed to 'channel my energy' into?"

"Well," began James, "How about basic training? And taking care of Megan?" Max nodded.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." James smiled, and grasped Max's shoulder.

"Lauren would be proud of you," he sad sadly. "Just keep going, Maxie. It'll be alright."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:: sorry, didn't realise we had to do one!**

**I DO NOT OWN CHERUB, UNFORTUNATLEY. I ONLY OWN THE CHARACTERS I HAVE CREATED IN THIS STORY. **

**ENJOY!**

Chapter Ten

Over the next few days, Max and Megan fully settled in to the CHERUB way of life. They were training hard for Basic training. Megan didn't ever guess that the sheer determination Max possessed to pass first time was nothing to do with wanting to become a cherub.

True, this did have a good deal of importance, as Max now longed to be part of CHERUB. He felt that every step he took to further involve himself in CHERUB was a step closer to Lauren. Max knew that if he failed basic training he would never forgive himself.

James had been very helpful indeed. He and Kerry often sat with them at lunch or supper, which Max loved. He liked the feeling of being included by his uncle, because James could have so easily just treated him as any other cherub.

Over one particular evening, Kerry and James were reminiscing about their basic training days.

"Wait – so you guys were training partners?" asked Megan incredulously. Oscar and Grace, who had joined them, started laughing.

"Yeah, and they always argued! Dad even stamped on Mum's hand and nearly got them both kicked off! But then again, Mum did used to beat him up like every karate lesson." Chortled Oscar. James looked hurt and gently cuffed Oscar around the ear.

"Hey! We got through! And I'd like to see you do any better with Mr Large as your head training instructor." Oscar quietened down very quickly. Max looked interested.

"Who was Mr Large?" he asked quizzically. Kerry stifled her laughter to prevent her spitting out her soup. Once she'd swallowed, she burst out with uncontrollable giggles. Her face turned red and she clutched her sides. James was laughing as well.

"Mr Large," wheezes Kerry, when she eventually stopped laughing, "Mr Large was the head training instructor when James and I did basic training. He was also the head training instructor when Lauren did her first attempt…" Kerry started laughing again and her words were cut off. Max looked disheartened.

"You mean Mami didn't pass first time?" he asked, looking disappointed.

"No, no, let us finish," smiled James. "Lauren had to stop her first course of basic training because she … she hit … Mr Large…over the head…with…. a…spade!" With that, James and Kerry burst into laughter again.

"I don't get it," said Megan, confused. "Why is that so funny?" James and Kerry finally stopped laughing.

"Well, everyone hated Mr Large, because he was so horrid to all the trainees. Everyone was so thrilled someone finally got their own back on him! Lauren was in _so_ much trouble, though." Kerry nodded in agreement.

"But it was great, because after that Mr Large turned to drinking to get over the constant pain in his back," continued James. Megan gasped.

"That's horrible!" she cried. "Mami did that?"

"No, no," James quickly hurried on, "she did do that and it wasn't nice. But Mr Large had hurt so many people over the decades that really he deserved it. Anyway, on a training exercise later on, he got drunk and had a heart attack, leaving all the cherubs to cope with being discovered. So there was an enquiry, and he tried to blackmail Lauren. Lauren and my mate Kyle told Zara, and Mr Large got fired!" Megan smiled.

"Wow," she said. "Mami must have been popular after that!" James grinned.

"Oh yeah," he smiled. It amazed him just how much Megan looked like the little-girl Lauren he remembered – apart from the black hair, of course.

"But don't you guys worry about basic training," Kerry spoke to the three ten-year-olds.

"The likelihood is that Megan and Max will be paired together, and Oscar, you'll probably be paired with Freddie or Rosie." Oscar nodded.

"That would be cool," he smiled. "But… is it _really _bad?" Kerry looked thoughtful.

"Yes," she began slowly, "But once you've been through basic training, you won't be scared of anything. They used to tell us that old phrase, do you remember, James?"

"This is tough, but cherubs are tougher." James replied immediately. Kerry nodded and looked at the kids.

"Don't you worry, guys. You're strong, and tough. I mean, you're all the kids of ex-cherubs. That's got to count for something, right?" They all nodded.

Max felt the steely ball of determination in his gut. He would get through basic training, and get Megan and Oscar through as well. He would do it for Lauren.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

With two days to go until basic training started, the twins and their friends were really starting to feel the pressure. The twins woke up at six thirty every morning and did a half hours' running on the athletics track.

They had been fit when they arrived at CHERUB anyway, but now they were the fittest they could possibly be. Both kids felt that it was important to be as prepared as possible so they had the best chance of passing basic.

Megan had yet to find out about her brother's obsession with making sure they passed first time; little did she know that it was only that determination, that drive to succeed, that kept him from completely breaking down.

Megan and Max both had to attend counselling sessions; they did this separately, and Max was grateful. He didn't want his sister to find out the extent of the guilt he was suffering, because he knew she would only blame herself for not realising sooner.

They were both looking forward to becoming qualified agents greatly. Over dinner one day, Rosie started talking about missions, and the twins listened with interest.

"Well, my brother Josh got his navy shirt on his first mission, but it took my big sister Tiffany three big ones till she got hers." Rosie nodded knowledgeably. Max looked interested.

"So you don't all get them around the same time?" he asked. Rosie shook her head.

"No way," smiled Rosie. Max looked worried. What if all his friends went on to achieve higher rankings then he did? What if he was the last one left? Megan saw Max's puzzled expression and squeezed his arm under the table.

"But you can't worry about it," smiled Reuben. Max felt better. Reuben was a lot quieter than most of the other kids, but he meant what he said and Max was grateful for the encouragement.

"So how many brothers and sisters do you actually have, Rosie?" asked Megan. Rosie grinned.

"Well, there's Josh, Tiffany, Harry, me and my little sister Georgia," she said. Seeing the slightly surprised look on Megan's face, she laughed.

"I know, that's a lot of kids, right?" she grinned. "You'd think, considering Mum looks after all the kids at CHERUB, she wouldn't have that many of her own, but I guess she just wanted a big family." Freddie grinned.

"Or she just kept trying until she got a normal one but it never happened…" he said under his breath. Unfortunately, Rosie heard, and pretty soon Freddie was limping out of the dining room with a large red lump on his shin.

Despite all the laughter and jokes with her friend, Megan was worried about something herself. Since they'd arrived a CHERUB a couple of weeks ago, she and Max had been inseparable. Although before Lauren and Jamie had died, they had each had their separate friends, but now it seemed different.

Somehow Megan felt different about this. She was getting closer and closer to some of the girls in their little 'gang', especially Rosie. Somehow Megan felt sort of 'connected' with Rosie, because her mother had worked with Lauren.

But she wondered whether Max would feel even more rejected about this; she knew that he already blamed himself for Jamie and Lauren's death, and she didn't want him feeling like she didn't need him.

Megan didn't know what would happen if she was paired with Rosie instead of Max in basic training. She knew that Maddy and Cara would be paired together; the two were joined at the hip and hadn't been paired with any other people since they'd arrived at CHERUB when they were four years old.

Megan knew that she would be fine with whoever she was paired with; Max would make sure he passed if it was the last thing he did, and Rosie was the toughest person she'd ever met. She was just worried about Max, and how he would react, because at this very moment she loved her brother more than anyone in the world and would not do anything that may possibly harm him.

The friends were somewhat comforted by the fact that as there were eight of them entering basic training and the maximum group size was ten, they would be amongst good company and they would all be there to support each other. In fact, it was Ella and Connor, the two younger ones, because there would be only two of them together.

Despite all the minor worries that were playing at all their minds, the biggest one of all was the 100-day-ordeal that lay ahead.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

It was time.

Max woke up, a light sweat on his brow. He was so nervous, but he knew that he could do it. He had too. He checked his clock; four thirty. He had to be at basic training by five thirty, but James had warned them to prepare with plenty of time.

There was a pile of filthy kit dumped inside the door. Rosie's brother Harry had given them a pep talk the previous evening, and had warned them that this might happen. Apparently sometimes they gave odd people filthy kit, and other brand-new stuff.

Max decided to go and check with Megan, but when he reached the door he'd already decided that it was worth getting punished if he could have that extra bit of comfort.

Max had taken a long, hot bath the night before and had a very early night, so he felt refreshed and capable. All the boys had shaved their hair to skinhead length, after a tip from Harry.

Rosie and Megan had also had a brain wave and had their hair braided in tight cornrows to keep it out of their way. They weren't keen on cutting it, and this had seemed like the next best option.

He pulled on clean undergarments, and applied three blister stickers to each heel. Harry had told them that you did so much in your boots that you got blisters all the time, and plasters would make a massive difference. He knew that Rosie, Megan and all the rest of the 'gang' were going to be using the same tricks as well.

Again, he felt comforted by the thought that he would be accompanied in training with his friends. Quickly he pulled his t-shirt over his head, did up his laces and gave himself a huge blast of deodorant. Deciding it would have to last a long time, he squirted the can all over, and gave his shoes a good blast for got measure.

Smelling like a perfume counter, Max took a last look at his room, walked out and across the hallway to Megan's room. He knocked softly and a second later Megan answered.

"Come in," she said, her eyes wide with anticipation. "I just need to put my boots on." Max felt relieved as he saw Megan in clean, fresh uniform. He sat on her bed and smiled at his sister.

"You nervous?" he asked. She frowned.

"Yes, but I know we have to do it. So I'm not really sure," she said. Max nodded. He felt the exact same way.

"Max…" asked Megan quietly. Max looked up.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll be partners in training?" she asked nervously, twisting her hands.

"Yeah, course," said Max confidently. Megan looked uncomfortable.

"Yeah, but what if we're not?" Megan looked worried. Max went over and put his arms round her.

"Don't worry," he said. "If we're not, we'll probably be with either Oscar or Rosie, and that'll be fine." Megan nodded, but she was still biting her lip.

"Megs, seriously," he said. "We'll be fine. We'll still be their together, and that's all that matters." Megan nodded.

"Okay," she said finally. "I think I'm ready!"

Hand in hand, they went down in the elevator to the dining room, to meet the others.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

As the eight friends ate a quick breakfast of cereal, fruit and hot chocolate left out for them by the kitchen staff, they were mostly quiet. They were all thinking about what lay ahead. They just couldn't wait to qualify, and they were all determined to pass.

After twenty minutes, it was time to go. They all walked down to the training compound together. The other two trainees, two new recruits named Jessica Roberts and Tyler Evans were already being made to stand to attention outside the gates.

The other eight looked at each other, shrugged and joined the line behind the other two. Megan felt really nervous as she stood with Rosie in front of her and Max behind her. But still, she felt protected. She knew that Max would do anything to help her in training, and she was ready to do whatever it took to help him in return.

Mr Walsh, the head training instructor, strode out in massive boots. He crossed his thick arms and grinned evilly as he surveyed the ten trainees before him.

"Well, well, well," he sneered. "Look what we have here! Jog, inside, now!" he barked the orders and at once the trainees, led by Jessica jogged in a line into the little hut. Inside were ten narrow beds, stood in one line, with one thin blanket stretched taught, army-style, over the mattresses.

"Right!" he barked sharply. He looked at the clipboard in his hands. "My, my, my," he grinned slyly.

"Three Adams'! We _are _going to have our work cut out, aren't we, my little munchkins!" He looked Rosie up and down.

"And an Asker as well! Right now!" he barked again. Megan was already beginning to get used to the sudden shouts.

"Jessica Roberts, one, Tyler Evans, two." He surveyed the little group as Tyler and Jess stood unmoving. "Get used to it, little people. You are now numbers. You two," he pointed at Jessica and Tyler, "are partners. One and Two. Get it now?" he asked patronisingly. They nodded quickly and stood beside the beds marked one and two.

"Reuben Wilson, three, Freddie Jones, four. Rosanna Asker, five, Megan Adams, six." Megan headed over to bed six, wondering whether to be pleased that she was with Rosie or disappointed that she wasn't with Max. She saw Rosie scowling when Mr Walsh used her full name.

"Max Adams, seven, Oscar Adams, eight." Megan grinned. She had the bed next to Max, and that was nearly as good as being partners with him.

"Madeleine Clark, nine, Cara Carson, ten." Mr Walsh slapped his clipboard on the table with a bang.

"Right. For the next one hundred days, you are all mine. You do exactly as you are told for the entire time. You are free to leave at any time, but once you leave you cannot come back and will have to restart this course from _Day One._

'This is Mr Sumner and Mr Green. They will be backup. Punishment is harsh. You do _not _step out of line. There is a numbered bib on your bed. You will wear this over your t-shirts at all time. You take this off, you pay."

The trainees were now all quite scared. Megan stuck her chin out defiantly. She would get through this. They all picked up the bibs and slipped them on. They were lycra and fit tightly over their t-shirts. Megan was glad, because they wouldn't get in their way, and they provided more warmth for when the weather got colder.

She noticed that all the bibs were different colours. Maddy and Cara were red, Oscar and Max were green, Megan and Rosie were blue and Jessica and Tyler were yellow. Megan laughed when she saw Freddie fuming at his and Reuben's bibs, which were a fluorescent pink. Mr Walsh smirked at the appalled faces in front of him.

"They look lovely, ladies! Now, I want you to run IN ORDER over to the assault course. NOW!"

The trainees set off at a run. Training had begun.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

The assault course was hell. Megan understood why they were made to do it straight away; it really kick-started the training course.

Luckily, Rosie had three older siblings who had all done the same assault course every day for 100 days. She showed Megan all the tricks; how to climb through the muddy tunnel quickly, how to cut the swim across the lake in half, how to pick a course over the jagged rocks and how to make it the whole way across the bog on the rope swing.

Megan and Rosie really worked well together and they finished the course a full ten minutes before everyone else. As they were showering off the mud under the freezing spout, Oscar and Max came jogging up.

"Whew!" panted Oscar. "They really mean tough, don't they?" Rosie nodded. Megan looked at Max.

"You okay?" she asked. He nodded silently. Mr Walsh came running up behind Maddy and Cara as they clambered over the tree trunks at the end of the course.

Ronan Walsh was not a small man. His legs were as thick as tree trunks, and his head was larger than a bowling ball. A beefy moustache adorned his tubey lips, and he had a habit of twirling the ends around his fingers so they always pointed upwards.

He had always had a mean streak in him; he had been a cherub himself when he was younger and was always the bully of the group. Taking the head training instructor job was perfect for him; he got to bully innocent ten-year-olds for three hundred days a year.

"Right, my little pumpkins! I think it's time for …. Oh, let's see …. Some physical exercise! NOW I WANT ALL OF YOU, AND I MEAN ALL OF YOU, OUTSIDE THE TRAINING HUT DOING TWENTY PUSH-UPS!" Walsh roared.

So far, training hadn't been too bad. But it was only the first morning, and Megan knew that much, much worse was to come.

After exercising until they were nearly puking, the trainees started lessons. They had survival, karate, language, weaponry, computing, espionage and lessons which everyone called 'gadget stuff' because nobody really knew what they were.

The trainees were each assigned a new language. Megan and Max had always been good at languages and they were fluent in three already. To their delight, Megan, Max, Oscar and Rosie all got Mandarin Chinese as their new language. Maddy, Cara and Freddie got Russian, and Jess, Tyler and Reuben got Greek.

Megan enjoyed learning Chinese; she'd always wanted to speak a language from the Far East. By their third lesson, however, she was less enjoying the fact that every lesson was spent wet, cold and covered in mud. This was because their language lessons came first thing, five days a week, straight after assault course and physical exercise.

After a week, Megan felt as though she'd been in training for months already.


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry for the delay in uploading! I've been at boarding school and there are restrictions on the Internet…. Which sucks! But this is quite a long chapter, so it should make up for it a bit!** Chapter Fifteen

Day 50.

The trainees woke up with a little more excitement then usual. Each of them had been setting their own targets to keep them going throughout training, and reaching half way was a pretty major goal for the trainees.

So far, it had been hell. Megan didn't think it was going to get any easier; in reality, it was probably going to get a whole lot harder. But, she was halfway through. If she'd come this far, she could survive the whole way.

Actually, the training hadn't been tougher than she'd imagined. The horror stories told by Harry did all happen, and more at that; but somehow, they seemed irrelevant, sort of part of the package.

The trainees looked totally different from when they started. They were all always covered in a light layer of mud, which refused to shift however much they washed. Bruises and scratches were now so numerous that the boys had now lost count and knew they looked 'hard' anyway.

Despite his beginning threats and mockery, Mr Walsh hadn't been that bad of a training instructor. He was strict enough to make training tough, but not too bad that the trainees felt so low they would never continue.

In fact, Megan was beginning to think that the role he'd played on the first few days of training was simply an act to scare them – Mr Walsh had obviously picked up a few tips from the rumours about the infamous Mr Large.

The trainees had been fairly lucky; so far, they hadn't had any serious injuries and so they still had ten people on the course. The worst they'd had was when Megan sprained her ankle and Freddie had got a piece of broken glass stuck in his palm.

All that had happened was that they'd had to go to the medical centre. Megan had stayed over night, and now had to wear a strapping band on her ankle for the remainder of training. Freddie had gotten stitches and a large bandage, and had returned after a few hours.

All ten trainees were determined to make it through; they had already had an off-site exercise lasting a day, where the trainees had to navigate their way through a thick forest in a certain time. This was when Megan really appreciated being paired with Rosie, because she was a natural at all the survival lessons.

They had been told that this was only a practice for their final four days of training, where they would fly to Morocco to complete their training in the last test.

The trainees were all worried about this, although the worry helped the days pass more quickly. They dreaded the final days, because if they failed then, it would mean that they had to restart their training from day one.

Megan threw all her efforts into training; Max was doing the same too. In actual fact, Megan thought that it was better putting her and Max with different training partners; they still had that close bond, but they learned not to rely on each other so much.

As the days until Morocco slipped away, Megan worried about the 'final test'. She knew that being on a course with Rosie was a big help; of course, they weren't supposed to favour the chairman's daughter, and they didn't, but they weren't going to slip in any sneak tricks that might cost them their grey shirts.

And, finally, the last four days of training arrived.

The trainees were dumped in the back of an army pick up truck and had to bounce around uncomfortably as the truck drove down the road to a military airbase that CHERUB often used for training missions and small journeys.

As they boarded the plane, Megan was struck by how simple it was; there were sixteen narrow seats covered in rough, green fabric with little leg room – the plane was so small there wasn't room for anymore. They could see into the cockpit from where they were sitting and Megan found it quite eerie. Max, however, loved every minute of it; he'd always fancied the idea of becoming a jet fighter and he'd never actually seem the cockpit of a plane.

The instructors climbed on board and took the front seats; the ones with the most leg room, of course. The trainees were surprised to see another two members of staff climbing aboard with them. By the way Oscar looked at them, Max could tell he knew them. Max hadn't seen them around campus, but then again he'd only been there for two weeks.

"Hey, Oscar," he nudged his training partner. "Who are those people that just got on?"

"Oh, well that's Mr Blueman – he was one of my dad's best mates. And that's Bethany, you know Mr Norris's wife? She was… well, she was Aunt Lauren's best friend." Max's breath caught in his chest. He found it hard to believe that this tall, chunky woman had been Mami's best friend.

Max leaned over to whisper the news to Megan, who in turn told Rosie. Megan seemed please; she was excited to learn more stuff about their mum.

Mr Blueman, who was a small but good-looking man, strode down the plane towards them.

"All got your seatbelts on then?" he asked, pretending to check them as he knelt down in the aisle between Megan and Max.

"Hi," he said warmly. "I'm Kyle. I would have come and seen you guys earlier, but I was away helping on a mission and I didn't get back till last week and you guys were in training! But how are you doing? Are you coping okay?" Max nodded, instantly warming to Kyle's friendly manner.

"Good stuff. Just keep calm and use your heads in these last few days and you'll have finished in no time. Alright, I'd better go… good luck." With a sharp nod of the head, Kyle stood up.

"Get that seatbelt on, Adams, or I'll attach it permanently around your waist!" he snapped, and then winked at Oscar, to whom he had been shouting, before turning around.

"He's cool," smiled Max.

"Yeah," agreed Oscar. "He brings us loads of pirate DVDs and stuff. He's my godfather actually." Whilst the boys were discussing Kyle, Rosie turned to Megan looking puzzled.

"Hey, Megs," she whispered, so that Max wouldn't hear. "If Bethany was supposed to be your mum's best friend, surely she should come and say hello? I mean, Kyle did and he's your uncle's mate. What's up with her?" Megan shrugged her shoulders.

"I dunno. Maybe she's waiting till later so it doesn't look suspicious?" Rosie nodded.

"Could be." She settled back in her seat, which seemed like luxury after 96 days of wafer-thin mattresses.

As Kyle took his seat, he turned around and gave Megan a friendly smile. This made Megan ponder Rosie's question even more. Why wasn't Bethany even acknowledging them? Surely, as Mami's best friend, she would have been alerted of the circumstances for which they were here – and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who her and Max were, they looked so similar.

Megan sighed. She was tired; all she wanted to do for now was sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

James sat at the kitchen table on Sunday morning with a mug of coffee and the newspaper. He was just about to read it when Daisy, his youngest daughter, emerged with tousled hair at the kitchen door.

She toddled over and climbed up to James' lap. He picked her up and cuddled her tiny frame before planting a kiss on top of her head.

"Daddy, when is Oka coming home?" she asked. 'Oka' was her name for Oscar – she was only little and couldn't quite pronounce his name yet.

"Soon, darling, very soon." James sighed. He missed his son desperately, but at least now he knew that he was in safe hands; Kyle was helping out with the final few days of training, and James knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to Oscar. Especially after what had happened to Lauren.

James sighed. He still couldn't believe that Lauren was gone. A few days before training, they'd held a quite, private funeral in CHERUB'S chapel of rest. Lauren and Jamie were buried together, under the shade of a beech tree that overlooked the lake. They couldn't have chosen a more perfect spot.

There hadn't been many people at the service; Megan and Max, of course, and Oscar. Kerry and James had decided that the other children were too young. Zara and her husband Ewart attended, as did Meryl and Bruce. Connor O'Reilly, one of the twins, came with Gabrielle, his wife. It was simple and peaceful; exactly how Lauren would have wanted it.

At the moment, James didn't know what he felt. He'd lost the only relative he had left. Yes, he had a family of his own now, but that still didn't make up for the fact that Lauren was his only blood relative and she was gone.

When James had ended his CHERUB career at 17, he visited Lauren at least once a month from his gap year, and then from Cambridge University, where he'd taken a degree in Maths. When Lauren went on her travels, similar to James at 17, she'd met Carlos in South America.

Carlos had helped her forget about Rat, her long-time boyfriend at CHERUB. Everyone had always said that Lauren and Rat would end up married; but Rat chose to return to his native Australia and broke Lauren's heart. Carlos was just the man she needed to help her get over Rat, and they'd married six years later.

After University, James had made a point of seeing his sister at least once every six weeks. By the time Lauren and Carlos had married, James had married Kerry and returned to work as a mission controller's assistant at CHERUB.

It was around a year after Lauren's wedding that Kerry had discovered that she was pregnant. It was a difficult time between James and Lauren because Lauren had been desperately trying for children since she had got married and had so far proved unsuccessful.

As Kerry blossomed, good news finally struck Lauren. She was pregnant too – and with triplets. James was ecstatic; so was Zara, and the others that he told at CHERUB. During this time, Kerry and Lauren spent a lot of time together, discussing their pregnancies and generally passing the time.

After the babies were born, James was kept very busy. He visited Lauren and the triplets once a month; he loved seeing Jamie, the little boy who was the very picture of him. It touched him that Lauren had named her son after her brother; although they had fought, they were extremely close.

When Carlos had been diagnosed with cancer, James spent every spare moment he could with Lauren. She found it hard coping with a terminally ill husband and three two-year old children. This was when, together, she and James had made the arrangements with Zara that if anything were to happen to Lauren, the triplets would be immediately taken to CHERUB.

James felt a lot better knowing this safety unit was in place; if something _did _happen to Lauren, then the social services would have no way of tracking him because technically, neither him nor his family existed.

When Grace was born, James somehow drifted apart from Lauren. Now he thought about it, he could not forgive himself for not visiting more often, to making the most of the precious time he had been given. The relationship they shared was not compromised, though; James, like Lauren, had named one of his children after his sibling. Grace Lauren Adams was born a day after Lauren's birthday.

Coming back to his senses, James leaned his head back as a tear rolled down his face. Daisy stood up in his lap and wiped it away with her tiny finger.

"Don't cry, Daddy," she said. James smiled. It was hard, but the burden was made a lot easier knowing that he had his family to help him get through it all.


	17. Chapter 17

**SORRY SORRY SORRY FOR NOT UPLOADING SOONER!!! I KNOW IT'S BEEN AGES – WON'T BE THIS LONG AGAIN!**Chapter Seventeen

In the blistering heat of summer in Morocco, the trainees were desperately struggling to the end of their 100-day training course. Mentally and physically exhausted, these trainees thought only of the final moment – when they could qualify.

Megan and Rosie had battled through. With outstanding teamwork, they'd faced no serious problems and were on course to finish in good time. Max and Oscar were just behind, having slightly more trouble than the girls but keeping up.

As the trainees had no idea whereabouts the other pairs were, they also had no idea if they were in the lead or losing terribly. As Megan and Rosie jumped into the warm river to complete the last leg of their journey, a long and gruelling swim dragging heavy packs, they believed they were about in the middle of their group.

When they arrived and saw a cabin with smoke curling out of the roof, they used all their remaining energy and sprinted up the hill towards it. As they arrived, they saw Mr Blueman step out of the cabin, smiling at them.

"I'm so proud of you two," he grinned. "You're first back. Almost four hours before the deadline … amazing!" Rosie smiled at Megan. Megan felt relieved, but was still worried about Max.

Both girls were utterly exhausted, so Kyle showed them into the cabin which had a few mangy sofas. Nevertheless, they felt like beds of the softest feather to Rosie and Megan, who had been camping on the floor for the past four nights.

"So, is this over?" asked Rosie. "Have we passed?" Kyle didn't say anything. His lips were pressed tight together as he held an earpiece in his ear with two long, bony fingers.

"They're _what_?" he yelled. "Jesus Christ! What in God's name do they think they're doing?"

Rosie glanced at Megan, worried. If there was a stupid stunt played, Megan would bet her money on Oscar and Max being at the head of it. They'd spent more than a few nights standing outside in the freezing cold just for the pleasure of a few moments of fun.

"Sorry, guys, I've got to run," said Kyle, heading for the door. "If people arrive, use that walkie over there to alert one of the members of staff." He was about to dash out when Megan interrupted him.

"Please, Mr Blueman, just please, will you tell us what's happened? Is it Oscar and Max?" she sounded so worried and looked so small and fragile that Kyle paused for a minute.

"Well, I'm really not supposed to tell you … you didn't hear it from me, but one group has smuggled in a mobile and was using it as a GPS." Rosie's mouth fell open. That was like committing suicide – taking a massive risk, where you are likely to get caught, on the last day of training.

"Who?" asked Rosie, worried. She didn't know how Megan would react if it was Max – she'd been through so much in the past few months, she didn't know if her friend could take this as well.

"Um … numbers 3 and 4, is all I know." Megan groaned. Freddie and Reuben … she'd never had guessed it. She was relieved that it wasn't Max and Oscar, but she was still really good friends with Freddie and Reuben and it was a massive shame they wouldn't pass first time.

"Well, all we can do is sit and wait." Rosie sighed.

So they waited and waited. As the clock ticked nearer and nearer to the deadline the girls grew worried. Then, they jumped up as Megan spotted to packs appearing from below the crest of the hill.

Megan was disappointed as she saw Maddy and Cara. They looked flushed and exhausted. Rosie greeted them with a warm smile.

"Well done, guys," she said. Cara flung her pack to the ground.

"Where's the others? Is no one else here yet?" she asked.

Megan shook her head sadly.

"Freddie and Reuben are most definitely disqualified," she said. "They snuck in a mobile and were using it as a GPS." Maddy's mouth dropped open. She looked appalled.

"Well, we have slightly better news. We passed Max and Oscar about two hours back and they were on course. They'd been slow because Max has got a nasty cut on the bottom of his foot, but they should be fine. They said they passed Jess and Ty this morning and thought they were doing OK as well."

Megan breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, twenty minutes later, Max and Oscar appeared into view, Max bobbing along with an obvious limp and Oscar looking relieved as he shed his extraordinarily heavy pack (he'd taken most of Max's stuff to make the walking easier for him). She ran to hug her brother, who smelt absolutely disgusting.

"I thought you weren't going to get here!" she squealed, affectionately punching his arm. "Thanks for worrying me! And you _stink_!" Max snorted.

"Gee thanks, nice to see you too." Although he acted sarcastic, he appreciated that for Megan, having just lost one brother, would be worrying when she was safe and there was no sign of him.

Thirty minutes later, there was still no sign of Jess and Tyler. It was only ten minutes now till the deadline, and Rosie radioded the staff.

"Right. We've picked up Freddie and Reuben. There's a slight problem though; Tyler fell around twenty minutes ago and we think he's broken his ankle. So Jess is going to attempt the last mile or so on her own, and we've given her the twenty minutes that she waited with Tyler for. So if she's not back by half and hour, radio again." Kyle drew breath.

"Thank god the others are all right." Rosie thanked him and smiled to their little group.

"Jess is on her way. Ty's out … they think he's broken his ankle. Jeez, our group's been hit with bad luck."

Oscar looked expectantly at her.

"So?" he asked.

"So what?" replied Rosie, looking puzzled.

"Have we passed?"


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The trainees were picked up by Mr Walsh in a large jeep with an open back. As they bumped along, Megan noticed Max wincing.

"Are you alright, Max?" she asked, concerned. He looked pale.

"I'm fine," he gritted his teeth. "Just the cut on my foot is sore, s'all."

Megan knew her brother didn't want to acknowledge it now, and although she hadn't been meaning to pry, she felt a little rebuked.

They drove for about half an hour until they reached another set of buildings. The trainees trooped inside and were told to wait on the beds that lined the room, numbered as they were at home.

Freddie and Reuben entered the room, heads hung shamefully. The way the seemed so ashamed and embarrassed made Megan wonder if they hadn't really wanted to cheat at all.

"You two weasels!" barked Mr Walsh. "My office! Now!" they scurried through the doorway on the other side of the room, looking terrified. Megan certainly didn't want to be in their shoes right at that moment.

Mr Sumner and Mr Blueman entered the room. The looked at little more relaxed, although Kyle winced as Mr Walsh's voice boomed through the thin walls.

"Right. Training is …_almost _over. But not quite," grinned Mr Sumner. The trainees groaned – they didn't think they could possibly take anymore.

"You are now working as one big team … that's seven of you. Your grey shirts await you in a location around three miles from here.

"However, there is a course of obstacles that must be overcome. It is like an assault course – although harder, longer and tougher than any assault course you've ever done, I can assure you."

"You have three hours. A truck will meet you at the other end. The course starts at the bottom of the hill to the south side of the complex. Good luck."

As they sprinted out of the building, it occurred to the trainees that that was the first time one of the instructors had ever wished them luck with anything.

Perhaps, thought Max, after losing three trainees on the final day, there would already be some tricky questions waiting for them when they got home and they couldn't afford any more.

The reached the bottom of the hill and saw a thin signpost with a red arrow, spattered in mud, pointing straight across a large lake.

They stripped off their t-shirts and tied them around their waists – they had no embarrassment now and they had learnt long ago that this made it far easier to swim as it freed your arms.

Maddy quailed. She hated swimming and was not confident with large, open swims like this.

Fortunately, Cara was probably one of the strongest swimmers CHERUB had ever had, and she always helped her out.

They made it across after around ten minutes of steady swimming. They clambered up the muddy bank, wrung out their t-shirts and slipped them on. The cold water was cool against their bodies in the muggy, humid air.

It was a 400-metre run to the next obstacle; peering upwards, the trainees saw a height obstacle similar to the one at CHERUB, except almost twice the height and easily if not more than twice as long.

They started the ascent. Rosie went first; she had incredible balance and was easily the quickest and most confident. Oscar followed; he had a slight weakness for heights and sometimes needed support. Then Megan followed, and Cara backed her up. Maddy followed Cara, and then Jess, and then Max, probably the second most confident at the heights.

They quickly made their way over the assortment of planks, poles, nets and climbing walls. As Rosie peered at the end obstacle, even she quailed a little.

She looked down at the 100-metre long zip wire that met a climbing net, which you had to climb up and over, meet two planks pointing steeply downwards on the other side and face a 20-metre drop onto a large blue mat at the end.

Oscar turned green as he peered over Rosie's shoulder.

"I don't think I can do this," he whispered, white. His knuckles gripped the poles on either side of the thin plank on which they stood.

"I'm serious. I quit."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

"What?" asked Megan, dumbfounded.

"Come on, Oscar. Don't be stupid. We're so close! Look, I'll go first and …" Oscar cut Rosie off.

"I'm serious! I can't do this, I won't do this! I've done enough!" Megan sighed. She knew how hard it must be for Oscar; scared of heights and having just found out his best friend had cheated and failed the whole course.

And then Megan thought of James; how disappointed he would be, how difficult it would be for him to congratulate all the others knowing his son had bottled out on the last day of training.

Megan leaned over careful so as not to startle him.

"Oscar," she whispered in his ear. "You can do this, I know you can. Your dad will be so proud of you! You've just got to do this one little thing, OK?"

Oscar trembled, biting his bottom lip so hard a droplet of blood blossomed and ran down his chin.

"And besides," grinned Megan, "If you have to do the course again, you'll have to do it with Josh O'Reilly … you might even be _training partners _with him!"

A look of horror passed over Oscar's face.

"This is tough, but cherubs are tougher," said Rosie simply. "That's you dad's favourite saying. Try it. It might work for you."

Oscar smiled weakly.

"I guess Freddie would kill me if I did quite now," he admitted humbly.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Megan. She thought quickly – now that Oscar was feeling more cooperative she didn't want to waste time.

"Okay, so Rosie, how about you swing across to the net first?" she suggested. "You can wait for Oscar and me on the net and we can take it slow, and together. OK?"

Oscar nodded slowly. Clearly thinking the same as Megan and not wanting to delay any further, Rosie grasped the handles of the zip wire tightly and pushed off. She travelled with her arms ram-rod straight, like they had been taught, and didn't sway about.

She bent her knees to absorb the impact of hitting the net through her legs rather than through her face and deftly hooked her feet through some loops. She positioned herself on the net, close enough to the zip wire so that she could help Oscar but not so close that she would get hit.

"You ready, Oscar?" whispered Megan. He nodded slowly.

"Okay then!" Oscar tentatively grasped the zip wire that Rosie had sent back up. His knuckles looked so tight Megan was sure they were going to puncture the skin soon.

Steadily, he shuffled up to the edge.

"I'm right behind you," whispered Megan. "Just hang on till you reach the nets and Rosie will help you." She gave Oscar a gentle nudge on the shoulder. Squeezing his eyes shut tight and holding on for dear life, Oscar stepped off the platform.

As he stepped off, Megan gave him a slight push, because otherwise he would be left dangling without enough momentum to keep him going. Oscar sped towards the net and Megan could hear Rosie yelling instructions at him to bend his legs and keep his arms straight.

"Are you guys all okay?" she turned round to the others and saw a series of nods.

"Alright then. I'm going to wiz over and join those two and we'll climb up and over. If you guys do it in pairs, so it's a little quicker." Everyone nodded in agreement.

Oscar, pale and drawn out though he was, was clinging to the net, with Rosie murmuring words of encouragement. Megan pushed of the platform, keeping her arms straight.

The wind rushed through her dirty hair and made it whip across her face as she flew through the treetops. It felt amazing; exhilarating and electrifying, sending all her senses into hyper drive all at once.

All too soon, the net was looming. She bent her knees up to her chest and braced for the impact. As she hit the net, harder than she had imagined, she felt Rosie's arm around her back, keeping her steady.

She was grateful as once her feet were in two holes it was quite hard to keep her weight forwards and the extra balance Rosie's arm provided prevented her from falling backwards, which, aside from being painful, would knock Oscar's confidence even more.

She peered upwards. The net wasn't too high; they'd soon get over. It was getting Oscar over the top that she was worried about; it was a steep drop and from a long way up.


	20. Chapter 20

**Ok – so it's been a really long while since I updated this story! **

**But I have to say thanks to all you guys who have been reviewing, they keep reminding me to continue – so keep it up! Also I find the comments really helpful and constructive, so thanks very much! **

**OH, and for those of you who have been asking, YES Mady and Cara are named after Jon and Kate plus 8 (I love that show!) **

**Keep reviewing people! Hope to reach 100 before Christmas – who knows, if you're the 100****th**** reviewer I might include you in the story …..**

Chapter Twenty

How they managed to complete the course with Oscar still conscious, Megan never knew. She did know, however, that it was largely thanks to the brilliant effort of Rosie, taking control and leading the way, and the massive amount of support received from the other trainees behind them. Having made it this far, all the trainees felt extremely close, and there was no way they were going to lose any more of their pack.

As the precious bundle of t-shirts came into sight, Megan could have sworn she felt an intake of breath from all around her. Excitement buzzed through the small, ragged group as the t-shirts. Ten of them, pinned in a row, each beneath a small target. About five metres in front of each target were ten guns. A plastic sign read:

Three shots each. Don't miss – we're watching.

Thankfully, Megan could think of no one in their group that was a terrible aim – the worst of them was Tyler, and he was currently in hospital with a broken ankle.

In unison, they took up positions.

In unison, they loaded the guns.

In unison, they took aim.

In unison, they fired.

In unison, seven t-shirts fell to the ground.

Megan looked at Rosie, tears streaming from her eyes. Through the blur she could see Rosie was crying also, and they ran forwards to collect their grey t-shirts. All around her the others were doing the same. All except Max and Oscar.

They had been on the end two posts, and like the girls had looked at each other when the t-shirts fell. But instead of embracing, congratulating each other, they simply exchanged a grave nod. Without saying a word to each other, they each moved up two posts to the right.

Two bullets wizzing through the air from one shot made everyone look round, as the two t-shirts at the end of the line fell. Silently, Max and Oscar went and collected their t-shirts, and the other two they had just shot down.

As they returned to the group of girls, they gave weak smiles.

'They wouldn't have thrown it away like that,' whispered Oscar, as though he was trying not to cry. 'I know they wouldn't.'

No more needed to be said. The joy of completing training was somewhat hampered by the three that didn't make it. Although Tyler's case was sad, the real hardship was Freddie and Reuben. They were popular boys, always keeping up the spirit of the trainees by making jokes – often at their own expense, Megan realised.

Was Oscar right, she wondered? Had Freddie and Reuben's fate simply been one tiny joke too far, or had they really been set up?

With their elation overcome by the sadness of losing part of their group, the agents trooped to the waiting truck.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

On the plane home (this time on a commercial flight, where the new agents were treated to first-class seats) Max sat next to Megan. It felt strange; for the past three months he had been attached to Oscar and although he now felt extremely close to his cousin, it was nice to be back with his sister.

He watched her gentle breathing as she dozed on his shoulder and gently swept a stray blonde curl from her cheek.

Although he was ecstatic and so proud of what he had achieved, Max still felt upset. If only Lauren could have been here to see what he had achieved, and Jamie too. The fact that his mum used to be a CHERUB agent even made it worse, as Max now knew that he could have CHERUB and still have his family as well, like Oscar.

Then Max felt like kicking himself, and he looked down at his sister. Even though it was only a few minutes' difference, he and Jamie had always considered Megan as their little sister, and always protected her in a way that big brothers always do.

Now that Jamie was gone, Max felt this responsibility all the more. Megan was his family now; and Kerry, and James, and Oscar, Grace, Daisy and Emma. He had plenty of family, and he knew that Lauren would be proud of him wherever he was.

His gaze crossed to the other side of the plane, to the only other two kids that weren't dozing peacefully. Reuben sat next to Mr Walsh and Freddie next to Bethany Norris, their faces pale and expressions worried.

Max hadn't known Freddie and Reuben for very long but he was certain that after three months' hard training, they were not likely to throw it all away by using a phone on something they could perfectly well do themselves.

For the first time Max noticed Bethany's face. She look thunderous, even more than she had done before. Max was really starting to dislike her. What was her problem?

As she caught his eye she shot him a furious glare and Max quickly averted his gaze. He didn't understand how Bethany could seem to dislike him and Megan so much, when she hadn't even known them that long. She was supposed to be Mami's best friend!

Kyle Blueman, who had been sitting directly in front of Megan and Max, was watching Bethany too. Something didn't add up in this situation; he had picked up on that as Max had.

As uneasy as it made him feel, he thought that Bethany had something to do with it – she was just acting so odd, so out of character. Yes, she must still be struggling from Lauren's death, they all were, but that was no reason to take it out on her kids, the ones who needed help the most at this point.

He sighed and stole a glance backwards. Megan was asleep on Max's shoulder, looking peaceful but exhausted. Max's eyes now never left his sister, watching over her all the time.

However hard he tried, sleep would not come for Kyle. There was something pressing at his mind; something concerning the whole phone incident. After a group of ten extremely promising trainees had dwindled to only seven agents produced in just three days, there was definitely something suspicious about it.

Tyler, it amounted, had only a sprained ankle, and as disappointing as that was, it wouldn't be long before he would be training for his next shot at qualifying. Freddie and Reuben though – that was a different story. It worried Kyle that once they got off this plane, he didn't know what would happen.

With the way things were looking right now, the boys might not even get another shot at training.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

Back in his room at campus, Max collapsed on his gigantic bed as soon as he arrived through the door.

He was giddy with excitement and exhaustion too – luckily the CHERUBS had a full week of rest before they had to head back into full timetable again.

Max heard a crash and a squeal coming from the corridor and was planning to go and investigate, but was stopped by an even louder crash as his door was slammed open.

'OSCAR'S HOME, PEOPLE!' yelled his cousin as he burst through the door on a wheeled food cart. Max grinned.

"I'm guessing you got a room on this floor, then?" he asked. Oscar nodded happily.

"It's SO awesome, dude, you have no idea!" Max chuckled.

"Uh, dude?" he said, gesturing around him. "I think I do." Oscar pulled a face and pulled a spin on his cart.

"Anyway, it seriously couldn't have worked out better. I'm next to you. Rosie's opposite me, next to Megan. Maddy and Cara are on the other side of you and Megan. We are li-ving the hi – gh li-fe," Oscar sang, spinning round and round.

Max laughed, clutching his sides, as he saw Meryl appear over Oscar's shoulder and look down at the whirl of cart and boy in front of her.

Oscar stopped. "Seriously, mate, it's not _that _funny." Max continued laughing.

"Oh, I don't know, Mr Adams, I find it quite amusing myself,' said Meryl. Oscar hopped of the cart immediately, straightening his new grey t-shirt.

"Since it is your first day back from training for this one time only I am prepared to be lenient. However, when I return in five minutes I expect to see your belongings removed from the hallway or you will be spending you entire rest period on the running track. Do I make myself clear?"

Oscar grinned sheepishly. "Yes miss. Sorry miss." Meryl allowed a small smile to play at the corner of her mouth.

"Mr Adams," she spoke this time to Max (this was going to get very confusing in lessons, Max realised!) "You may want to help him if he is going to have any chance of clearing the hallway. It appears Oscar has brought over the entire contents of every room in the Junior Block." Max grinned.

"Alright, Oscar, just give me a minute and I'll be out to help you." Max headed into his bathroom and shut the door. Whilst he'd been in basic the cleaners had restocked his bathroom and he was glad to find all new toiletries.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Max barely recognised himself. He'd grown a bit, and had bulked up. He had visibly large biceps and when he rolled up his shirt he had an awesome six-pack.

His hair had grown out from the beginning of training but Max was tempted just to shave it again, it was so ratty. He still had his freckles and blond hair with piercingly blue eyes, identical to his sister, but he thought he looked older somehow. He felt it too.

Max grabbed his hiking bag, which had doubled as his hand luggage, and tipped the contents on his bed. It was the same bag they had all been given at the start of training, and they'd lasted well.

However, when Max peered in the bag to check he'd scooped out all the contents a flash of fluorescent pink caught his eye. It was a label, about 10cm wide, with a large black number 3.

Max was puzzled. This was Freddie and Reuben's colours, and Reuben's number. Max knew the numbers by heart; they had been yelled out so often and they slept in number order.

Why did he have Reuben's bag?

Shrugging it off as a mistake, Max went out to help Oscar. He was late and all that was left was his cousin's backpack. Max swung it on to his shoulder.

Then, just out of curiousity, Max checked the label. It was pink, with a number 4. Freddie's.

This was not a mistake. It all clicked in to place.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

Max stood in the corridor, Oscar's rucksack dangling from his arm. He just couldn't believe it – he couldn't comprehend why it would have happened.

He didn't know what to do. He turned towards Oscar's door, and then stopped himself. He knew Oscar well enough to know that he wouldn't take the news well.

Oscar was very like the stories Max had heard of his uncle; he was hot-headed and rarely thought before he acted, often causing more damage than good. Max knew that this really wasn't a good issue to test him with.

He thought about telling Megan, but his protective side kicked in. Whatever this issue was about, he didn't want to get Megan involved. She deserved to be kept from trouble after what she'd been through in the past few months, and Max felt it was his duty to do that.

Then his eyes strayed further down the hallway. Rosie! Why hadn't he thought of this before? He ran quickly to her door and knocked sharply. Rosie answered straight away.

"Sorry, Megan, I didn't mean to leave the door …" she stopped as she saw Max. "You're not Megan," she said bluntly. Normally Max would have tried to crack a joke, but he was too concerned.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked. Rosie looked perplexed, but opened the door.

"Sure." Max hurried inside and locked the door. Rosie started. The trainees had all become really close during training, and Rosie was Megan's best friend, but Rosie and Max hadn't been particularly close, and this sudden eagerness seemed weird.

"Look, you know what happened to Freddie and Reuben?" asked Max. Rosie nodded, sitting down on the edge of her bed. Max crossed the room and dumped the bag on her bed.

"I don't think they did it. They had too much just to throw it away like that. And – well, Bethany _hates _me and Megan. I don't know why, I mean we only met her four days ago –" Max broke off, realising that he had no proof of this.

"I know," said Rosie. "I saw the way she was looking at you guys."

"And these bags," Max continued. "For some reason I have Reuben's bag. And Oscar has Freddie's. And – well, I think that… I think that Bethany planted the phone in my bag. And we accidentally got the wrong ones."

Rosie inhaled sharply, not just out of shock, but also because she could see that Max was right. And unless they played their cards right, people were unlikely to believe them.

"What were you planning to do?" asked Rosie. Max shook his head.

"I have no idea. But whatever we do, it needs to be fast. Freddie and Reuben will be going in to see Zara any minute now."

"Well, that's what we need to do, then," said Rosie simply. "Look, you go get Megan. I'll explain to Oscar. If we go together, it's better."

Max nodded. He was glad he'd come to Rosie. She was so level-headed and organised about everything. He headed out to fetch Oscar and the other back pack and together they went to see Zara, and plead their case.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

The four friends sat outside Zara's office. It felt strange to be here; CHERUBS were only normally summoned to Zara's office if they were in serious trouble, and Max and Megan certainly hadn't been here yet.

They were surprised to here the door open and see James walk out. Oscar grinned, and ran to give his dad a hug. He hadn't seen James since they'd got back from training a few hours ago, as James had been in a meeting.

James grinned.

"I'm so proud of you," he told Oscar. Oscar blushed. Megan and Max felt awkward. They, too, wanted to go and greet their uncle but they didn't exactly know how – they hadn't know James long enough yet.

"And you two as well!" he smiled, gesturing to Max and Megan. "Well done, all of you." He winked at Rosie. "Thanks for keeping them safe."

Megan smiled. Even their teachers seemed to realise that Rosie was normally the pillar of strength behind all of them. Rosie, however, didn't smile.

"Not all of them," she sighed quietly. "Um, Mr Adams, maybe you might.. I mean, could you come with us when we talk to Zara?"

James looked bewildered.

"Sure… but – " James got cut off as Zara poked her head out.

"Right, I believe I have four new agents to see me?" she smiled. Megan expected Rosie to do the same as Oscar had, to go and give Zara a hug, but it showed the serious of the situation that she merely gave a weak smile.

"There's something really wrong, Mum," she said, as soon as they were all inside Zara's office. Zara's brow creased with concern. She studied the four kids in front of her, four kids who happened to be extremely close to her.

"Judging by the people in front of me, I'm guessing it's something to do with Freddie and Reuben," she said, gesturing for them all to sit as she took her place behind her desk.

"Yes," said Rosie. James walked round to stand beside Zara.

Max lifted the rucksacks he'd found and saw Zara look confused.

"It's kind of far-fetched, but we all can't believe that Freddie and Reuben would throw away all their hard work like that," said Max. Zara nodded slowly.

"I mean, Reuben was easily the best at navigating, apart from Rosie of course," Max continued, and Rosie blushed.

"It just doesn't make sense. And then when I was unpacking, I found that my rucksack wasn't mine at all – it was Reuben's. And Oscar's, my partner, was really Freddie's."

Zara sighed.

"So you're saying that you think the phone was planted? But not for Freddie and Reuben, for you and Oscar?" the four CHERUBS nodded. James frowned.

"Well, it's a reasonable theory, but who would want to do that? I know Oscar's a bit of a troublemaker, but Max has only just arrived – surely he can't have made any grudges yet?"

Zara shook her head.

"I agree, but it's more than that. I hate to think that anyone on the CHERUB staff would do something like this." Megan bit her lip. She wondered when Max and Rosie would bring up Bethany.

"There is someone we thought it was," said Rosie quietly. Zara's head snapped around to look at her daughter.

"And who might that be?" she asked curiously.

"Bethany. I mean, Mrs Norris." Max shrank back in his chair, expecting to be told off. However, Zara just looked interested. James did not look amused, but he didn't look shocked either.

"And why would that be?" asked Zara.

"Well, we only met her on the plane, when we met Kyle. And Kyle was so nice to me and Megan, but Bethany didn't say a word. In fact, she was just staring at us the whole time, as though she was really, really mad at us. She looked…" Max gulped. Megan squeezed his arm.

"It was as though she was mad at us for what happened to Mami." A small tear fell from Max's eye. He wiped it away quickly, but Zara had seen it. Her face fell in sympathy.

"Ok. Firstly, thank you for being brave enough to come and tell me. I know how hard that must have been. Now, can you guys just wait outside for a bit? I need to make some calls and speak to James."

The four trooped out. At the door, Max sneaked a glance backwards at James. He looked absolutely thunderous.

Sitting outside, the CHERUBS could hear some of what was being said.

"I mean it, Zara, I've had enough of her! She was always like this, but I could deal with it. Now she's taking it out on my kids? And Lauren's? Something's not right with her, Zara."

Inside the office, Zara sighed. She knew the kids were probably right. But why would Bethany just have targeted Max and Oscar? Why not Megan?

Then, Zara had a brainwave. She called Ronan Walsh.

"Hi, Ronan. Just a quick question… you know the phone? Can you tell me which part of the kit it was in?" Zara noted it down.

"Ok, just clearing up some thoughts I'd been having. I'll call you later. Thanks."

Zara called the kids in.

"Right. Megan and Rosie, could you remember which parts of your kit you threw out, when you were handed you packs?"

The girls looked confused, but obliged.

"Um… an extra water sack. A kettle. The cutlery bags.." Zara cut Megan off.

"You threw out a kettle? A small camping kettle?" The girls nodded.

"Definitley. We kept a pan instead." Zara gave a small smile.

"Well, well done girls. You might have saved yourselves by doing just that."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

Bethany Norris sat outside Zara's office, feeling as though she were twelve years old again.

She'd been caught. She knew it. She'd known it was risky, with Oscar being James' son, and Rosie the chairwoman's daughter.

She'd tried desperately to get Megan and Max paired together but the training instructors and handlers had been insistent that the brats were separated so they didn't rely on each other as much.

It had just made it all the harder for her.

Still, she'd thought her plan had been quite good. Extremley childish, yes, and very sloppy too – she'd obviously forgotten a lot of her CHERUB training in the years she was away. But she'd made sure she was in charge of the packs.

She'd slipped two phones into Max and Megan's packs – inside the small silver camping kettle, which she was certain they would use. Then she'd recommended that Ronan Walsh checked the GPS signals coming from the area the trainees were in – and they'd picked up one.

She was disappointed it was only one, and then furious to find that not one of the Adams' had been caught. She realised in the scramble to jump from the army plane, the packs must have got mixed up.

Bethany hung her head in her hands. It had all gone so wrong. She heard footsteps, and looked up.

James Adams was coming towards her, looking furious. She stood up.

"James, I .." She didn't have time to finish. James used his body weight to throw Bethany against the wall.

"What the HELL were you thinking?" he snarled. "I've just lost my sister, and my nephew. How could you do this? How could you? I thought Lauren was your friend!"

James let Bethany go. He turned away from her, so she wouldn't see his tears. It was all so… out of his control. And he hated it. He hated that he couldn't do anything to bring Lauren back. He hated that he was never going to be enough for Max and Megan, and they'd always want their mother.

Everything was now focussed on him. He'd been thrust into the spotlight, and he didn't know if he could do it.

Bethany was crying too.

"I did it _because _Lauren is my friend," she whispered. James turned around and Bethany realised how much he had aged in the past few months. There were deep grey and red rings under his eyes and his boyish good looks were hidden behind a mask of sorrow.

"Yeah, right," he spat, turning away. "Tell that to someone who cares."


	26. Chapter 26

**SORRY THIS HAS TAKEN SUCH A LONG TIME! PLEASE REVIEW, IT HELPS ME WANT TO KEEP GOING WITH THIS STORY!**

Chapter Twenty-Six

"I did it because I didn't want her kids in danger. I wanted them to have nothing to do with CHERUB. I wanted them to have a nice family, a good school, and to get on with their lives. I just wanted them to be safe."

Zara's heart ached with sympathy as she listened to the young woman in front of her talk. Bethany was grieving, and badly, and she had only been doing what she thought best. It was unlucky for her that it had gone so badly wrong.

"You can keep your job, Bethany," said Zara. "But I'm moving you to admin for six months. After that, you may return to your previous post." Bethany nodded miserably. Zara was being kind to her, she knew.

"And I want you to talk to Megan and Max. They deserve to know what happened. They've been through a lot in the past four months and this could have cause extraordinary damage if it had gone ahead. It's lucky for you that it didn't."

Bethany started.

"Please, Zara, I don't think I can face them." Zara looked at her sternly.

"You can and you will. I don't want to have to step in again. Those kids need all the help they can get." Bethany miserably agreed and stepped out of the chairwoman's office.

Half an hour later, Zara found herself in the same position, except with two terrified young faces in front of her.

"Freddie, Rueben," she smiled warmly. "I want to commend you both."

The boys looked shocked. Was this a trick? Was Zara trying to lure them into a false sense of security?

"You never let adults pressure you into lying, and that is one of the most important qualities we look for in agents. You were determined, resilient and morally strong. Your courage is fantastic."

Freddie and Reuben looked at each other, still confused.

"What happened in training was not your fault. I hear from Mr Blueman and Mr Walsh that you were on target to finish in a respectable time. Therefore, I thought you'd like to have these."

Zara pulled out two grey t-shirts from under her desk. The boys to a moment to register, they were so shocked. Normally they would have screamed their heads off, but the moment was far too serious.

"Are you serious?" whispered Freddie. Zara burst out laughing.

"Of course I'm serious! Now go, tell your friends. I'm sure they'll be desperate to know what's happening to you!"

The boys ran out of her office, ecstatic. Zara smiled to herself. Being the chairman of CHERUB had its downside, and the last few months had been pretty tough, but the look on those boys' faces made it worth all the pains and hardship.

Zara was still astounded with how close kids at CHERUB became, and how they managed to cope with such massive issues. She was proud of each and every one of them.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

The next few weeks passed in a blur. Max and Megan were blissfully happy, relaxing from training and just having fun with their friends.

They all rallied up for Ty, Connor and Ella as they prepared to start training, all secretly happy that they'd been through and gone.

No one as yet had been on a mission, with exception of Reuben, who'd had a brief step-in on a mission in Brighton to do routine surveillance.

Their lessons were vigorous but the twins found they enjoyed the work. Megan grew closer and closer to Rosie whilst Max, Oscar, Freddie and Rueben were a tight group. They were envied amongst their peers for their close-knit group but admired, as all of them were friendly and inviting.

Max found himself in awe of Rosie. She seemed so much more mature and grounded than the rest of them, and inspired confidence in all of them. Max loved the way she just connected with everyone, regardless of whether she knew them well or not.

Megan loved the fact she had to help little kids in their lessons – she helped teach Spanish and athletics. She loved spending time with her little cousins, especially Grace, who was only a few years younger than her.

About four weeks after training, the four were relaxing in Max's room watching the new Twilight movie, when there was a sharp knock on the door. Megan jumped up to answer it.

It was Kerry, her arms full with clothes.

"Hi, Mum," yelled Oscar, without moving. Kerry shook her head and dumped the clothes on Oscar's back.

"I found all these in your room at home. You either keep them or chuck them but I want them gone by tomorrow!" Oscar groaned.

"Fine." Max giggled, and Oscar threw a cushion at him so hard it knocked him off the other side of the bed.

"Now, now, none of that," Kerry warned. "You carry on like this and people will think you're too immature to go on missions.' Saying this, she winked at Oscar.

Oscar sat bolt upright.

"I'VE GOT A MISSION?!" he yelled at the top of his voice. Kerry chuckled.

"You all have. It's taken a lot of string-pulling and this is rarely going to happen again, but the four of you are the junior agents on a big up-and-coming mission that we need a lot of agents for."

"You're kidding?" asked Megan. One of the worries she'd had was that her and Max, and even Oscar and Rosie, would get different missions of different importance. Now, this was the perfect solution!

"Nope. As it's so big, there's two mission controllers, plus me." Oscar grinned.

"You and Dad are going? Awesome!" Kerry smiled.

"I thought you four would like it. Now, it's going to be long, and it's going to be tough. I want the four of you at the mission preparation building at 3 o'clock sharp and you can expect to be there for a while, so I'd excuse yourself from lessons."

"What's it about? Is it dangerous?" Kerry shook her head firmly.

"I'm not saying any more. You'll find out later. Now clear this mess up before I have your handlers in here!"

With that, Kerry waved to the kids and left.

The four kids looked at each other. Four pairs of eyes shone, four minds raced and four stomachs fluttered.

They were going on a mission.


	28. Chapter 28

****CLASSIFIED****

**MISSION BRIEFING FOR: ****MAX ADAMS, MEGAN ADAMS, OSCAR ADAMS, HARRY ASKER, ROSIE ASKER, LARA JONES, NAOMI MILLER, JACOB NEWMAN, TOBY THOMAS and POPPY WILLIAMS**

H.A.L.O

_H.A.L.O was founded in 1987 in Texas, USA_. _The initials stand for Help All Love Ourselves. The purpose of the society was originally to encourage the bonding of families of Christian religious extremists, but has since expanded worldwide into what can now be classified as a cult. _

_H.A.L.O encourages many acts frowned upon by the Human Rights Declaration including some forms of slavery and sexual abuse. However, this is currently not the main concern of the group. _

_All agents will remember the notorious 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, conducted by Muslim extremists. In every H.A.L.O camp around the world there can be found schools used to educate the youngsters of the cult in their beliefs. Children between 3 and 18 attend the schools as boarding pupils and it is believed that they are some sort of a training ground for Christian Terrorists. _

_What can CHERUB do?_

_With the upcoming American presidential election, of which the outcome will either involve increased title of blacks or women (both of which are frowned upon by H.A.L.O, who are somewhat medieval in their beliefs), it is believed that H.A.L.O will attempt an attack to display their beliefs. _

_It is believed that H.A.L.O has been planning this attack for some time, as their attacks have previously been limited to trivial matters such as letter bombs and assassinations. _

_H.A.L.O is similar to CHERUB in undertaking children to perform many of their jobs, and therefore British and American intelligence have both agreed that children have the best chance of successfully infiltrating the organisation. _

_The group do not believe in contraceptive methods and therefore families are large. The leading family that originally set up H.A.L.O are the Peltons, of Dallas, Texas. All members of the family are believed to be deeply involved with the suspected attack, but as the Peltons encourage equality for all cult members all the children attend the boarding schools. They are currently located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. _

_CHERUB agents will all be the adopted children of JAMES and KERRY ADAMS. LORI STELTON, additional mission controller, will act as the couples' nanny. Real siblings (Harry and Rosie ASKER, Megan and Max ADAMS) will appear to be siblings for the duration of the mission. Megan and Max ADAMS will admit to being the cousin of Oscar ADAMS and the niece and nephew of JAMES and KERRY ADAMS. This will also provide a cover story as to why JAMES and KERRY ADAMS adopted so many children. _

_CHERUB agents will target the Pelton children as follows:_

_**TOBY THOMAS : LENNON PELTON**_

_**POPPY WILLIAMS : AILIS PELTON**_

_**NAOMI MILLER: SAVANNAH PELTON**_

_**JACOB NEWMAN : RIVAS PELTON **_

_**HARRY ASKER: ZANDER PELTON**_

_**LARA JONES: DAKOTA PELTON ***_

_**MAX ADAMS: NEVADA PELTON * **_

_**MEGAN ADAMS: EDEN PELTON ***_

_**ROSIE ASKER: ANGEL PELTON ***_

_**OSCAR ADAMS: XAVIER PELTON ***_

_It is noted that although these children are the primary targets there are many other members of the Pelton family within H.A.L.O and agents are encouraged to befriend these as well. _

_*These members are direct children of Josiah Pelton, the founder of H.A.L.O, and his current wife Meredith Pelton, believed to be the brains behind the recent uprising of the organisation. _

_ATTENTION: THIS MISSION HAS BEEN CLASSIFIED AS HIGH-RISK_

_THE CHERUB ETHICS COMMITTEE NOTES THAT THIS MISISON WILL BE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS FOR THE FOUR JUNIOR OFFICERS ON THEIR FIRST MISSION. _


	29. Chapter 29

**Ok sorry to put a damper on this but I really need to know if people are actually reading this? I have a lot of important exams coming up – I want to keep writing, but if people aren't reading then I don't have the time to. So please review if you want more!**

Oh – and sorry if these few chapters are really boring. I have to set up for the mission before it can get interesting! I know it's a bit like Divine Madness, but that's the point – if you read on you'll see.

Chapter 29

Megan looked up from the briefing paper, open-mouthed in shock. Nine other faces around her displayed similar expressions.

"This is just an extract, of course," said James, who was sitting on the edge of his desk, his hands clasped together.

"Now I know this is massive. And it is – it's the biggest mission in terms of manpower that CHERUB has ever undertaken. If we succeed – well, I don't think I need to say how great that would be." Most of the kids around him grinned happily, but the younger ones still looked scared.

"This is a very dangerous mission – and I know, because I've been on one extremely similar myself." Kerry nodded in recognition.

"The Survivors." Oscar gasped, a little 'ooh' that was audible to everyone. The older kids looked at him and Oscar turned bright red and shrank back in his seat.

"When I was thirteen, I went on a mission to Australia to infiltrate a cult. The mind-control techniques they use are extremely effective and so, providing you accept this mission, you're all going for training on the techniques they may use."

Megan felt butterflies in her tummy kick in. This mission sounded exciting, thrilling and dangerous. She badly wanted to do it but was also scared she wouldn't be able to step up to the mark. This feeling wasn't helped at all by what James said next.

"As you can see it seems like our younger agents will have the best chance of good infiltration. Another detail I don't believe was quite mentioned is that H.A.L.O frequently sends its members around the world to their different camps, often splitting families up."

"So, we have a system in place that many of our mission controllers are on stand-by to follow where you get sent. We're also hopeful that as there are so many of you, you will at least be sent in twos or threes. In fact, we're hopeful that they won't move you at all."

All kids looked excited now.

"So when are we leaving for this?" asked Harry enthusiastically.

"We're hoping for about a week. There's a house being set up for us in Oklahoma – you kids will love it. I want you all here for another briefing tomorrow at three, and you can consider yourselves off school for the next few days, although I would appreciated if you kept your fitness up to top notch."

The kids beamed.

"Alright, clear out. Apart from you four," said Kerry, pointing at Megan, Max, Oscar and Rosie, who were sitting together.

"And you, Lara."

Everyone trooped out and James and Kerry were left alone with the five youngsters.

"You five will have the most important part in this mission. I wanted to let you know that no one would ever be given a mission this big for their first one – or second," he added, looking at Lara.

"The reason you were allowed was because we needed people this young, and because you four are strong friends and support each other." The four smiled, happy they'd been picked for something extraordinary.

"However, I want you to consider this very carefully before you agree. There's a lot of danger involved and it may be a bit too much for your first mission."

Megan was worried, but there was no doubt in her mind that she would accept this mission, and by the look on Max's face she was certain that he would as well.

As the kids left the office, James yelled at Max and Oscar.

"And you two! Get your skinny butts to the house; we're having a dinner this evening. Bring the girls as well."


	30. Chapter 30

Sincerest apologies for the horrendously late update.

Also, apologies for the mistake in Rosie's brother's name – after re-reading Brigands MC I realised that Zara's third child is in fact called Jonah and not Harry – from now on he will be Jonah!

PLEASE KEEP REVIEWING, AND I'LL KEEP WRITING! :D

Chapter Thirty

Max, Megan, Oscar and Rosie made their way over to the Adams' family cottage at around three that afternoon. They had the week off lessons due to their upcoming mission and its huge preparation, so they had spent the afternoon in the swimming pool and then in Megan's room, revising their briefing details and generally relaxing.

Megan found it hilarious how Max was trying to hide from her his growing affection for Rosie. If anything, he was making it more obvious by trying too hard to hide it – he made extra careful that when they sat down he wasn't next to Rosie, and tried not to make eye contact if he could possibly help it.

In a way Megan felt sorry for Rosie, because she must have been thinking that she had done something wrong.

Almost instantly after thinking that thought Megan wiped it from her mind – of course Rosie wouldn't feel like that! She was strong, sensible, lovely Rosie, who always saw the better side of everybody.

As they reached the cottage they could hear high-pitched squealing coming from inside.

"But Mummmmmmmmmmy!" came a shriek. "I WANT to wear my fairy costume! I WANT to!"

Oscar looked guiltily at the other three, who were smirking at him.

"Sorry," he apologised. "Emma. She's obsessed with dressing up. Last year, she spent a whole month as Minnie Mouse."

Megan chuckled. "There are worse things, I suppose!" and the others laughed in agreement. They reached the door, which was propped open on a doorstop, thanks to the warm, musky evening outside.

"Oh hi, kids," called Kerry from the kitchen. She emerged into the hallway with her hair in a messy bun, a splat of flour on her cheek and Daisy, who was sucking her thumb and clutching a plastic spatula, balanced on one hip.

She looked every inch the housewife, which made Megan laugh because it was the exact opposite to what Lauren would have looked like. Even Oscar seemed taken aback and shook his head, muttering something about wishing the ground would swallow him up.

"Hey, Aunt Kerry," waved Max from the doorstep. Kerry frowned.

"Did you not get Grace on your way over?" she asked pointedly at Oscar. He held up his hands in mock surrender.

"You never asked me to!" he protested.

"I did. I said, come to dinner tonight, and bring the girls." Oscar spluttered and gestured to Rosie and Megan.

"I thought you meant _these _girls!" Rosie laughed and stepped in.

"It's alright, I'll go and fetch her. I can pop in and say hi to Georgia as well," she offered.

"Oh thanks, Rosie, that's kind of you," said Kerrie. She held Daisy out at arms length.

"Would you mind taking her, Oscar, my sauce is burning." Oscar wrinkled his nose, so Megan laughed and scooped Daisy into her arms. Rosie turned to leave and Max stuttered.

"I'll go with you, Rosie. You know, keep you company," Rosie smiled at him and they disappeared round the corner.

Oscar threw a sideways glance at Megan and they both burst out laughing.

"What are you two giggling about?" called Kerry from the kitchen, as Daisy took her plastic spatula and whacked Oscar over the head with it.

"You silly, Oz!" she said firmly.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

The kids sat around James and Kerry's rather squashed dining room table later that evening, enjoying the simple but tasty pasta dish Kerry had made.

Max was itching to ask James more questions about the mission, but couldn't quite figure out how to bring the topic up with appearing to worried or over-excited.

But he needn't have worried; soon after desert Kerry left to put Daisy and Emma to bed, with the help of Megan and Rosie. Grace left to return to the Junior Block and James was left alone with Max and Oscar.

"So, are you two nervous about the mission?" he asked curiously, settling into his leather armchair in front of the fireplace, running a hand lazily through his dishevelled blond hair.

Max nodded. "It just seems so big. Like, I expected it would be a security check or something."

James grinned. "They usually are. In fact, this is a record breaker in two ways; it's one of the biggest missions in CHERUB history, and the highest number of new agents on one mission."

"No pressure then, eh Dad?" joked Oscar, and James smiled quietly.

"I know. Zara wasn't keen on giving me this mission, to be honest. She felt it was too soon… maybe it still is, who knows. But the fact is that the situation is too similar to the Survivors cult to take no notice, and Lauren, Dana, Rat and I are the only ones with the experience.

'Rat's still living in Australia. Dana – well, god only knows where she is, and to be frank I don't think anyone here really cares for her whereabouts. So that left me."

Max felt a little ache in his chest as he noticed how James had quietly skirted around mentioning Lauren.

"And you four, well you were picked firstly because of our close relationship – we can give you more assistance that way. Secondly, you all look similar, because you're family. And thirdly, as your training shows, we know that you can work well in a group together, and that's going to be really important.

'Our research shows that when the kids are split up it's generally in age groups, so we're hopeful that if it does happen, you four and optimistically Lara as well, will be together. You've got the most important jobs, but I'm sure you'll do just fine."

Oscar smiled and Max felt a little burst of pride in his chest. He was determined to perform well on his mission, to help his uncle and to make Mami proud.

"But, who's going to look after Daisy and Emma whilst you're away?" asked Oscar. "You said it could be a really long mission." James grimaced.

"Ah, yes. Well, we're not entirely certain about that. Obviously we'd like them with us but if they get split up from us it's a very dangerous risk, because they can't look after themselves yet.

'I think they're either going to stay with Zara and Ewart, or in the junior block with Grace. It's safest and although of course we'll miss them, they've been away from us before." Oscar nodded and seemed happy with the explanation.

Kerry returned and sat in the middle of the corner sofa. Megan sat down next to her and Kerry put her arm round her. Rosie came and sat close to Max, who was half lying down next to Megan. She softly leaned her head on Max's shoulder. At this, Kerry subtly caught James' eye and the exchanged knowing glances.

"Oh, I do love having you all here together," smiled Kerry, giving Megan a squeeze.

Megan smiled. "When do we leave again, Uncle James?" she asked. It still felt strange calling James Uncle because she'd never known about him before.

James and Kerry hadn't said they had to, but to Max and Megan it felt polite, and from the moment they'd arrived at CHERUB they'd felt as though they slotted into the family anyway.

They occasionally called them 'tia' and 'tio', which meant 'aunt' and 'uncle' in Spanish, because that was what they'd called Carlos' sister when she was alive. It felt friendly and familiar, and Kerry and James of course spoke fluent Spanish anyway.

"Well the official mission start date is two weeks Monday, that's tomorrow. But myself, Kerry, you, Max, Oscar, Rosie and Lara are flying out in a week's time to get everything sorted and settle in a bit."

Megan smiled. She liked the idea that they would have a week to acclimatise before the others flew out as well.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur; the kids chatted and grew sleepy on the comfy sofas. They were full of food and tired from their outdoor play and so Kerry threw the kids a bunch of old t-shirts and shorts for pyjamas and pulled out the sofa beds, which met in the middle to form a sort of giant mattress.

When she came down much later to check on the kids and fetch a bottle for Daisy, she caught sigh of the four on the bed and smiled to herself. Max and Megan were curled up asleep in the middle, with Rosie and Oscar on the outsides.

Max, as always, held a subconsciously protective hand around Megan's shoulder. Her tousled curls lay propped on Oscar's shoulder, and he was snoring like a pig as always.

What really made Kerry smile were Max and Rosie. Rosie's head was propped up on the edge of Max's chest, and his hand lay, like on Megan, protectively around her shoulders.

Kerry chuckled to herself. Max and Oscar were good; they always looked out for the girls. She knew they would prevent them coming to any harm.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two

The night before they were due to set off, Max and Megan went for a walk in CHERUB's extensive grounds. They chattered and made small talk, but both siblings felt the enormity of the task ahead of them and were really just glad to have each other's sole company.

James had told them a few days ago that there had been a slight change of plan. The Pelton children had been residing in one of H.A.L.O's boarding schools in Oklahoma, but for some unknown reason had suddenly been moved.

Fortunately CHERUB was able to track them and rearrange accommodation, and so the mission was still going ahead as planned. Their new destination, which Megan was delighted about, was the small town of Fairfield, Montana.

The new boarding school the Peltons attended was the largest in the H.A.L.O organisation and this increased hope for the CHERUBs that they would be accepted there. It was located around fifteen minutes away from Fairfield, in the nestled between the Sun River and Fort Shaw.

Megan was excited. She loved the idea of wide, open spaces, of seemingly endless green fields spattered with leaves from the oaks and maples lining them. They would be there in the summer, the most beautiful time to go. It was May now; they were fairly certain that the mission would last a good few months.

Max was more sceptical. His view of the wide spaces was that it made it all the more difficult to escape from somewhere you didn't want to be. It also made it easier to hide things that weren't meant to be found.

Deep in thought, Max and Megan trod a footpath until the reached a wide, gently rolling slope over looking the lake. Their gaze fell together upon the smoothly swaying branches of the old beech tree, where the graves of Lauren and Jamie stood.

The sun was just setting across the lake, casting a spectrum of hazy colours across the lawn towards them. The lake glinted a deep blue, and the grass seemed to be tinted with gold. The blossom littering the lawn seemed to sparkle, and the colours of the leaves shone brightly in the dying light.

Megan drew a sharp intake of breath. She sat down next to Lauren's grave, leaning back on her hands and gazing into the pink and blue sky. Max sat next to her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders.

Megan wasn't sad. She felt almost peaceful. Being here had calmed her nerves, focussed her attention on what she must do. She was in a beautiful place, surrounded by her family.

Ironic as it was, with two of her most loved in the ground beside her, Megan felt as though she couldn't ask for more at that moment, so happy she felt.

The twins sat, still and peaceful, watching the sun set.

Finally, as the bottom of the sun dipped into the lake, they appeared to wake again.

"You ready?" asked Max, standing up slowly and offering his hand to his sister.

"Yeah," said Megan softly. "Yeah, I think I am."


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three

"MAX CARLOS JAMES ADAMS!" screamed Kerry at the top of her voice. "Get your skinny butt over here and move your bags!" Max grinned sheepishly and made his way over to where he had dumped his bags in the doorway of their new house.

Kerry was lying spread-eagled on the hallway carpet, having just tripped over Max's junk that blocked the doorway. She did not look impressed and their delayed 10-hour flight had done nothing to improve her mood.

James, on the other hand, was quite cheerful. He had been very down lately, and had withdrawn into himself. For such an extrovert character normally it worried Kerry and Zara. They knew that he still somehow blamed himself for Lauren and Jamie's death. However, this new mission seemed to have given him some drive, something to push for. The only thing that worried the others now was the state that James would be in if this mission failed.

The house itself was beautiful. It was a large whitewashed farmhouse, situated picturesquely amidst the rolling hills of the Montana valleys. They were close to the quaint town of Fairfield, which seemed rather like an English market town to Megan. To Megan and Rosie's delight, there was a large American barn occupied by no less than 15 horses and ponies of various sizes, shapes and colours.

Oscar had been confused.

"Did CHERUB buy all those, then?" he asked, puzzled. Kerry shook her head.

"No. There is actually a family that lives here, and still does. To make it more authentic, we've simply.. taken their place for a few weeks, so to speak. They appeared to put their house up for sale, and CHERUB paid them a great deal of money to go away for a few months. I believe the family has gone on a world tour, but obviously they couldn't take all their horses. For the most part, if anyone asks, I am now a horse breeder! It's a new part we're going to have to add to the mission statement."

Megan and Rosie were excited about their new 'identities' and thoroughly occupied down in the barn. The boys were less impressed. Ten minutes after arriving, everyone had split off already and James and Kerry had no idea where anyone was.

"HOUSE MEETING, NOW!" James bellowed, shaking his head.

"Right, seeing as none of you seem remotely concerned about this mission at the moment," said James sternly as the kids trooped in and found spaces on the large plush sofa in the living room, "I thought I'd remind you. You're here to do a job, and I expect that job to be done to the best of all your abilities. Is that clear?"

The kids, reprimanded, nodded. James' face relaxed and he smiled.

"OK. Well I want you to unpack first of all. Max and Oscar, you're in the first room at the top of the stairs on your left. Megan and Rosie, the same on the right. Lara, you've got your own room next to Megan and Rosie's. The other rooms are for the other kids when they arrive. Boys, I'd appreciate it if after you've unpacked you would help Kerry with some grocery shopping. Megan and Rosie, I want you two to go down to the barn and acquaint yourselves with the workers there. They're new, so don't worry about inventing a new story, just stick to the cover from your briefing. Lara, I'd be grateful if you could find the airing cupboard and put out sheets and covers for each bed. It's been refurnished for us and they didn't quite have time to finish it."

Feeling slightly bored already, the kids set about their tasks. Megan felt strange. She'd been so nervous, and so far all they'd done was chores. It was a bit of an anti-climax, really.

However, whichever way she thought about it, tomorrow they would be visiting H.A.L.O's school as a possible school for the children, and the real work would begin.

The Adams' first mission was underway.


	34. Chapter 34

**Sorry it's been a long time for the update – I had a bad appendicitis :( ! but all is fine now, and I hope to be updating more soon.**

**Oh and one little thing – I really appreciate all the reviews, however if you have criticism unless it's something I can change in the story in the future, please keep it to yourself! If you're just telling me how bad I wrote the first half, or how every tiny detail doesn't quite work with you, it doesn't really encourage me to write more! **

**Happy reading!**

Chapter Thirty-Four

The following morning Kerry set out to the H.A.L.O school. It had been decided by James that to give a more realistic approach, only herself, Rosie and Megan would go. The girls were nervous, but excited. This was the first 'real' part of the mission involving some of the bad guys.

Megan didn't know how it was going to turn out. Sure, they'd done plenty of training exercises and she knew her job well, but she also knew that the difference between the 'bad guys' and the 'good guys' was not as clear cut as it may seem.

They arrived at the school around noon. As their plush four-by-four rolled through the large iron gates Megan's mouth dropped open. She had been expecting a regular school, with block classrooms in miserable grey stone, or the American equivalent. These buildings were far from that.

Five sleek white buildings faced inwards in a large semi-circle, with a perfectly manicured green lawn in the middle. Each building was identical; three stories, sprawling backwards into the seemingly endless grounds. To the immediate left and right the girls could see sports pitches, storage sheds, car parks, even a luxurious turquoise blue swimming pool, the water sparkling in the mid-morning sun.

It was as far from what a religious cult would be as Megan could've imagined. This was more like a place of luxury! They parked the car and climbed out. They were met immediately by a smiling boy and girl in smart grey and blue uniform.

"Hi," said the boy, who was tall, blonde and tanned – every inch the poster boy. The girl was shorter, with curly brown hair clipped back in a sparkly barrette.

"I'm Zach, and this is Ellen," he smiled, shaking all of the girls' hands. "You must be Mrs Matthews, and Rosie and Megan. I'm so glad you could make it. We'll take you to the entrance hall." Megan had to stop herself from looking momentarily confused at the use of their alias surname, but Kerry smiled warmly and they fell into step beside the students.

They entered the middle of the five buildings and found themselves in a large, marble entrance hall. The floors were so shiny you could see your face in the gloss; their footsteps echoed loudly as they were ushered over to sleek sofas set against the back wall.

"Headmaster will be with you shortly," smiled Ellen, and she and Zach retreated through a door set to the right of the sofas.

Kerry smiled at the girls. "Just act naturally. Be yourselves; you'll be fine." Megan realised Kerry's choice of words was incredibly clever; they could have applied to any prospective students nervous of visiting a new school, but also offered support to her and Rosie on the outset of their mission.

A tall, thick-set man in a smart designer suit walked importantly out of a polished oak door to their left. He smiled at them, his teeth so white that they had to have been altered.

Kerry, playing the part of the curious parent, stood up to shake hands, and Megan and Rosie followed suit.

"Good morning, Mrs Matthews," smiled the man. "I'm Headmaster Pelroux. You must be Rosie and Megan,' he smiled warmly at them. Megan knew her reservations had not been unnecessary; this man seemed perfectly nice and welcoming, and she wouldn't have immediately suspected him of anything.

They stepped into Pelroux's office, where they were ushered into three ornate chairs sat before a polished oak desk.

"Now, I've talked to you over the phone previously," smiled Pelroux, directing his gaze at Kerry. "I understand you have a rather large family?"

Kerry nodded. "We have ten adopted children. My husband and I felt it important that we shared the fortunes life has given to us and helped as many people as possible. We also have some siblings; Megan here also has a brother and a cousin, Max and Oscar, of the same age. Rosie has an older brother, Harry. We felt we should do all that we could to ensure their families were not more split up than they had to be."

Pelroux nodded, obviously believing Kerry's intensity. Megan was impressed; she herself could have believed Kerry's story, had she not already know the truth.

"The H.A.L.O institutions are somewhat renowned for accommodating large families; in fact we encourage it. However, the school is very different to any type of school you will have attended before; our children live and work to a challenging schedule, and are very well disciplined. We do, of course, allow time for fun and games to, though." The charming smile was back again.

Kerry nodded. "It's important to my husband and I that the children are raised properly. We want to give them every possible skill we can."

"Well then," said Pelroux, "I think you might have come to the right place."

Kerry beamed, and Megan and Rosie couldn't help smiling to themselves either. They were in.


End file.
